Two Days To Go

I can't believe my surgery is the day after tomorrow! It seemed to get here so fast! I guess I've been keeping busy with all of my preparations. I am not even feeling that nervous right now! I don't know if that will change or not, but for now I'm feeling good.

I picked out my protein powder at Max Muscle yesterday. I decided to go with the peanut butter fudge flavor of the gourmet protein. Of the flavors I tried, it was the least overwhelming and wasn't too sweet.

For the record, I asked my surgeon about which kind of protein to get. He loves the Max Muscle brand. I thought the gourmet protein would be a bad choice because it's a little higher in carbs than the others. But he said it's still plenty low enough so just to pick what tasted the best.

Also yesterday I got to have lunch with my sister in law at Olive Garden. The soup, salad, and breadsticks lunch there is sort of our "thing." I was so happy to get to do that with her one last time. We've been doing that for lunch about every month or so for the last couple of years and it's one of my favorite things. I know someday, I can do this with her again when I'm on solid foods, but I'll have to have a teeny tiny bit of soup and just little bites of everything. So it was nice to have one last time where I could really enjoy the full amount of food. I had a bowl of my fave soup (pasta fagoli), a plate of salad and I think 3 breadsticks. Yummms.

OK SO... Today I have my pulmonary testing at 1:00pm, and then at 2:00 I have my pre-op testing at the hospital, and at 2:30 my pre-op appointment with my surgeon. My husband is taking a half day at work because he has his own pulmonary testing at 2:00pm. My dad is going with me to all of my stuff because he is the man with the checkbook hehehe. So when we all head home (I think we will get home around 4:00 or 4:30) we are going to Famous Dave's which is my fave restaurant, so I can have my favorite dinner as my "Last Meal." LOL I feel so silly but, I really need it.

Tomorrow I'm on clear liquids only, and at about 10pm I have to stop consuming anything in order to be ready for my surgery. Thursday morning I go in about 10:30am and my surgery will be sometime around 1pm.

Also, GOOD NEWS! Ian got his surgery scheduled for sure! It will be on June 3rd, exactly two weeks after mine. All of his pre-op appointments will be on June 1st.

Stocking Up

I'm getting stocked up on everything I'm going to need pre-op, in the hospital, and post op. It's actually been fun!

Firstly I went to Vitamin Shoppe. I needed to find a good adult chewable multivitamin, as well as sub-lingual B-12 vitamins (they dissolve under the tongue). The first few weeks after surgery it would be difficult to take regular vitamins (the pills are sooo big) so the chewables are good... and there is some reason why my B-12's have to be sub lingual (that's for life.) Anyway here is what I ended up with:

Also at the Vitamin Shoppe I purchased these Isopure protein drinks. The day before surgery, and for a week after, I have to be on clear liquids only. Water, broth, etc. Can't do protein shakes during that time so these clear protein drinks are a great option. I bought one of each flavor so Ian and I can both try them and decide which flavors we are going to want cases of.

I also went to Target and scored a TON of awesome stuff that I think is going to be so helpful! First I'll start with the stuff that is for surgery / time in the hospital. I got some of these to try for keeping my mouth feeling nice and fresh.

I also got some beano meltaways (people say there is a lot of gas after surgery because of air they put into your stomach). I also got a few travel size toiletries that I'd like to have.

Now for post-op stuff! This is the stuff I think is so fun and I'm really excited about it :)

I got this cool set of containers in the toddler section. It's nice and small for tiny meals. I also got a small lunch box for it to go in:

(I got my husband the same dish set in blue, and a small lunch box for him too.)

Then I found this totally awesome thermos food jars!!!

They hold up to 10 ounces (won't need that much, but it's still nice and small) and they keep foods cold for up to 7 hours and hot for up to 5 hours. So excited about these. I found this nice plain one for my husband:

Also, my friend Brandy recommended these sippy cups to me, made by Nalgene:

After surgery you have to take such small sips of liquid (if you take a big sip or gulp it can make you throw up or just be really uncomfortable.) This will help us regulate that and take small sips. They hold 12 ounces of liquid. I got purple for me and blue for my husband. :)

I'm almost done getting everything we need! I know this may seem overboard to a lot of people but I'm a planner, and having everything I think might make our transition easier just makes me feel a lot more comfortable and prepared. Plus, finding cute useful things just makes me feel more excited about the whole thing. I was so glad that my husband really liked everything I picked out for him, too!

All I need now is my protein powders from Max Muscle (hope to find those this weekend) and a food journal for tracking my intake after surgery. I am going to the bookstore with my friend Wednesday (the day before surgery) and if I don't find one I like better, I'm going to try Flogg Daily. OR, I might stick with an iphone app instead, just haven't decided yet.

I am a little nervous about the surgery, but somehow doing all of this lifted my spirits. I guess I really like feeling prepared :)

It's All Set.

My surgery date - May 20th! Can you believe it? Less than a WEEK from today! So, needless to say the appointment with the surgeon went swimmingly :)

When we arrived I thought the place looked really nice. We had to wait a little while and fill out some more paperwork. I was so nervous! It felt like I was literally waiting for my future to begin.

Meeting with the surgeon was a nice experience. He asked us questions, got to know us, made sure we knew he had all the time in the world for us and the appointment would take as long as it takes. Very comfortable. He answered every single question I had written down on my very long list. He was so impressed that we had gotten so many appointments done beforehand and we had almost nothing left to do. He basically gave us the go ahead right then and had us meet with the coordinator, Diane, afterward.

The appointment with Diane lasted a good hour. We went through all the paperwork we had and she concluded that the only things we had left to do were our pulmonary testing and going to the pre-op nutrition class. We set up our pulmonary testing for this coming Tuesday, right during the appointment... and she said "there's a nutrition class tonight!" so we registered for that and decided to just stay downtown and go to it that night. She started throwing out possible surgery dates - May 27th was her first suggestion and I said that COULD work, but my parents would be out of town (and they really want to be here), and my friend Sarah who is coming to take care of me has to leave town the 31st so that wouldn't really give her time to stay here with me. Then we were discussing June dates... and then she said "well I don't know if this would feel way to soon to you, but we could do next Thursday May 20th!" My head was spinning. I called Sarah to make sure she could come so soon, and she said she could. I called my dad to make sure it worked with him, and it did. So it all fell into place!

Now on Tuesday in addition to my pulmonary testing I also have my pre-op testing at the hospital, and my pre-op appointment with Dr Snyder! And then Thursday is my surgery! WOW, so fast!! Also, the Dr. gave my husband Ian clearance to have the surgery just two weeks after me. He wasn't sure if he could do it that soon until he checked with work, but he talked to his boss yesterday and got the go-ahead. So tentatively his date is going to be June 3rd!

We stayed until the nutrition class which was a 2 hour overview class of everything nutrition related before and after surgery. After surgery there will be more classes. We learned a LOT... and we were each given one of these:

Now that's a book. Wow. Still need to read through everything in detail but I know the kinds of things I need to buy before surgery, and that's what I will be up to today!!

Here we go! I'm off and running!

It's Here.

After all the waiting and worrying... TODAY is our consult with the surgeon. I am still very nervous and anxious. In some ways it feels like an interview... he's going to want to ask us things and make sure we are good candidates for surgery. Although I have nothing to hide I'm just afraid from nervousness I'll "mess up" or SOUND like I'm lying or something. Then of course we have to ask him the questions WE have, and make sure this surgery we really want (the sleeve) is the right choice for us like we think it is, and that he supports it. Then if all goes well I'm hoping we get to pick our surgery dates and get ALLLLL the information about what comes next.

I hope I am able to come back later today and report that everything went well and announce my surgery date. :::fingers crossed:::

Drastic Change

As part of my preparing for all of this, I decided to go buy some smaller dishes for the smaller portions we will be eating after surgery. Although it will be a couple months til we even get to that point, I guess I just felt good preparing for it. I know from other weight loss attempts in the past that if you are eating a smaller portion of food, it becomes more satisfying if it is on a smaller plate (or in a smaller bowl) because then you feel like you are eating more. Also, in all my my youtube video-watching, I came across a woman who kept a small 1/2 cup size bowl in her purse so that when she ate at a restaurant, she could put her food into that and know she wouldn't eat too much. I thought that was a great idea.


I went to Target last night and came home with this haul:





The two blue bowls (these match our current set of dishes!!) hold about 1 1/2 cups. This is way too much for early on but since they match our dishes I went ahead and got them. They can also be useful for dip, salsa, etc when we are entertaining.


The clear bubble glass bowls hold about 1/2 cup each (it varies slightly because they are hand blown glass and not uniform.)


The melamine white square bowls hold 1/2 cup, and the matching plates are little appetizer plates.


The rubbermaid containers will be great for Ian to take things to work, or for anytime we have to pack snacks when we are out all day. The small ones are 1/2 cup capacity and the larger are 1 1/4 cup.


For reference, here is me holding the 1/2 cup rubbermaid and the 1/2 cup glass bowl:







And now for some shocking comparisons!!


Here is our current cereal/soup bowl, compared to the smaller dip bowl (which is 3x more than we'll be eating for a while ANYWAY.)



Here's a stack - current dinner plate, salad plate, bowl, and new smaller bowl.



So crazy to think that right now I can fill that large dinner plate and after surgery that tiny bowl will be much too big.



This one is the current dinner plate, salad plate, and new small appetizer plate.


Now for the rubbermaid containers. In back is a current one that we could easily eat that amount and in front are the new smaller ones.




I think seeing all of this was an important step in the mental and emotional preparation of what is about to happen. Ian said it was really pretty shocking to him to see the difference in what we will be eating. I tried to reassure him that the reason it works is you will actually be full on this amount!

I think it's just very interesting. I had a good idea of what 1/2 cup was (I picked out the little bowls assuming they were 1/2 cup and turned out I was right)... but what shocked me was comparing to the current size dishes we have and what we are able to eat. This is going to be a drastic change indeed.

Well this is new. I'm laying here on the decompression machine at my chiropractor's office as I type this on my phone. I'm hoping it this will make th time go faster because this usually feels like the longest 25 minutes of my life! It's just a really uncomfortable process!

Anyway.. Things are moving along. Looking forward to the consultation appointment with the surgeon which is now only a week away! I just feel like I'll have a lot more answers and a clearer picture of what is ahead of me at that point. This weekend Ian and I will be out of town enjoying the peace and quiet of the mountains... And while we are there we'll take some time to think about all of the questions and things we will want to go over during our consult... Make a nice list we can take with us.

I'm starting to do a lot of thinking ahead and planning for what things will be like after surgery. I've spent a lot of time on message boards and watching video blogs and I've just been a sponge, absorbing the information and experiences and trying to observe what makes someone most successful after these surgeries. Certainly everyone does lose weight but there are those who struggle more than others to keep it off. Good habits will make the difference. For example, not drinking with meals is one of the rules... A lot of people seem to cheat on this one once they are a few months out. I can see why... Not drinking with meals is going to be soooo hard. But I can see that people who don't seem to be a lot more successful at bot stretching out their new stomach... So I need to keep reminding myself of that!

Going Public & Filling in the Gaps

Hey everybody! I wanted to let you know that this blog is going public. Now that I've made the decision to go forward with weight loss surgery, I'm interested in starting to become a part of that blog community, as well as any health/fitness stuff in general. I'm planning to start posting here a lot more frequently as I go through this process.

As a side note for those of you who have been following me while this blog was private - I deleted a few posts and edited others for personal content. I kept copies of them and your comments for myself, just so you know :)

My videos will still have to remain password protected even though this blog will be public. That is because I use my Vimeo account for a lot of public videos too and someone could be looking at one of those and then come across my weight-related videos, and that just isn't something I feel comfortable with. I know this could be found by people but I just think this makes sense to avoid it when possible :)

I would also like to take this opportunity to fill in the gaps. I realize when looking through my posts here that the information has been a little sparse as to what has actually been going on in my life. I focused on talking about my therapy sessions but I really didn't talk that much about the pain I've been going through and the way things have changed. I talked about some of this in my video but for those who don't watch them here is a summary.

Some of you know through Facebook that I have been seeing a chiropractor for a while now. I had horrible "hip" pain bothering me for months... turns out it was being caused by my lower back. My upper back also started to get very tight. My ability to sit became almost nothing. I had to pretty much give up completely on doing school work... as well as my hobbies that are on the computer such as blogging and digital scrapbooking. My life was getting taken away from me!

I had do do something about it. "Dr Kate" knew of a really good chiropractor and I started seeing him. He first only treated my upper back because I didn't know that I also had lower back problems. A few nerve block treatments and my upper back pain was basically GONE. But my hip pain hadn't gotten any better at all.

I went back to my regular doc, and got new Xrays taken that revealed my lower back problems. (This is also when my doc brought up that I should consider weight loss surgery.) I promptly began treatments for my lower back also at the chiropractor. It is much more slow-going... but the decompression treatments are really helping!

So here is where I am at right now....

• Still going to the chiropractor. It's helping a lot but is slow going.
• I'm doing well enough now I could start school back up again, but at this point will wait until after surgery so that it is not interrupted again.
• Ian is going to have surgery too and our consult with the surgeon will be on May 12th.
• Because we will be self pay, it's possible I may get a surgery date about 3 weeks after this consult!
• We're trying to get all the appointments out of the way that we can - doctor appointments, blood work, psych evaluations, pulmonary testing, sleep study, etc... the sooner we get all that done, the sooner we can have surgery.
• We are starting to prepare for what life will be life after surgery. We've researched protein powders, vitamins, diet/menu plans, read a lot of information. I've been watching a ton of YouTube "Vlogs" (Video Blogs) from people who have had the Sleeve surgery that we are going to have, getting an idea of the aftermath of surgery, the adjustments to lifestyle, etc. Also joined some message boards for this surgery and learning a lot there, too.
• We have filled out an absolute mountain of forms, and have all of our paperwork organized.
• We are starting to say things like "when we are thinner we can..." and starting to plan a more active life for ourselves... think about fitting in clothes better... having more energy, etc. It's been a long time since I've allowed myself to think this way, for fear of it never happening. We are both seeing that this is really going to happen and starting to believe again.
• Our friends and family members are VERY supportive of the surgery and that has been really helpful.

I guess that's about it for now... oh! Except one thing I am not sure if I mentioned - I am still planning on maintaining my therapy sessions with Dr. Kate ... this is not taking the place of that. If anything I think it is a perfect combo - I will have the help of the surgery as a tool, but keep working on my emotional eating issues and proper nutrition/ intuitive eating with the help of Dr. Kate. I won't need her for the first several weeks after surgery quite as much because I won't be eating much (first liquids, then mushies, etc.)... but will probably have 30 min phone sessions each week during that time to check in about emotional issues that may crop up (such as mourning eating bad food/pigging out, or whatever it might be.)

So for now, mostly waiting for the surgery consult on May 12th. At that point we can ask a lot of questions and know a lot more about what's in store... and when :)