The Initial Visit

I've never had a "great" doctor's appointment until this morning.

Dr. Alley is going to be the doctor helping me through this whole weight loss surgery journey and he will be the doctor performing my surgery.  First off, he asks me where I work and once I clarify that the STPRC is NOT Planned Parenthood, he sighs a sigh of relief and tells me that he is completely pro-life and is behind what we do at the Center 100%.  Somebody needs to get this DOCTOR a DONOR PACKET.  Seriously. Ah...but I digress...

Then we start going through my medical history and all the ups and the downs.  Diabetes in my family, heart disease in my family, back pain (complete with 5 herniated disks), sciatica, plantar fascitis, and the list goes on and on.  No, really.  It does.  He used the term "morbidly obese" and then apologized for using that term.  Really, it's no surprise to me.  I know what I've been dealing with all my life.  I know what I am.  That's why I am here.  Because I want to change that.  And, having exhausted "almost" all other avenues, I have come to the conclusion that this is what I want for my life and for my health.

He goes through the different types of surgery with me and there are three of them.  There is the lap band, the gastric bypass (The Gold Standard...or the first one), and the Gastric Sleeve.  All three of them are effective if you follow the program.  And that's what he kept stressing to me.  You gotta follow the program.  So many people don't follow the program and then end up being overweight again or they get really sick.  I asked him what the time frame is between  this visit and the surgery and he said he can make it  happen within two months.  TWO MONTHS!  Of course, that's around Christmas so maybe I'll have to push it off to the first of the year but still.  That's really fast!

Dr. Alley said that I would probably forget a lot of the things he was telling me.  It's a lot of information.  He gave me a big binder to take home and they loaded me up with appointments.  I'll have all the preliminary stuff done by the beginning of November.

So, now I have to read that big manual and get all the info in my brain that I can.  I'm already fantasizing about what it will be like to wear smaller clothes, bend over and touch my toes, play with my kids outside without having to sit down all the time.  I was actually (seriously) contemplating getting one of those little fold up chairs that you can keep in your pocket so that you can sit down wherever you are.  Yes, it's that bad.  Once I started doing that, I realized that I need to make some serious changes.  I need to get this weight off and KEEP IT OFF.  That's the only way my life is going to be better.  I have three beautiful children and an amazing husband and I want to be around as long as I can to enjoy my life with them.

So, I'll try to keep you posted on my thoughts as I go through this process!