*Side Note: I am stunned that i have over 450+ views! I hope that my words will help bring a little insight for people who are considering the lap band. I know that reading blogs absolutly helped me. Im not going to lie or sugar cote anything either, I want to let people know exactly how my experience goes! So again thanks again*

Its 230am the morning before the surgery and I cant sleep. It truly is beginning to sink it that this will be that l will eat like a normal human being. Regardless of what the future holds for me, as far as food goes, nothing will ever be the same again.

Its been awhile since I blogged so lets recap some important events.

Pre Op appointment: So from reading around it sounded like the preop was a big ordeal. When I arrived I expected to get prescriptions, a full blow by blow of what was gonna happen on D- day, a Q and A, etc. What I got was very different. I arrived at the office and waited for about 5 min for me doc to call me into a room. When my fiance and I walked in, he advised that there was no need to sit down. He simply asked if anything had changed or happened with me since my last appointment. I said No. He asked if I had any questions. I asked 1, even though I knew the answer, just so that I could feel like something was accomplished. And that was it, he wished me well and said hed see me on thursday. The entire thing last less than 4 minutes. Now some people might see this as concerning. But me, being a hypochondriac actually got comfort from this. Dr. Gee (Which i would HIGHLY recommend for anyone looking for a surgeon) is an EXTREMELY confident guy. He obviously is well aware of what he is doing, and he describes it as if he was describing how to tie a shoe. He is very funny which is a huge plus. He literally told me that if I worked the night shift, the night of my surgery (I work for a call center from my house) that I could absolutly go back to work that night! Insane! (For what its worth I am still taking the 3 recommended days dammit lol)

After the pre op appointment I was notified that they mistakenly forgot to give me a stress test. So they quickly scheduled me one for today. I really had no idea what the heck it was so I went to the appointment today clueless. Once I got in I was asked to take my shirt off and lay on a bed. I was hooked up to about 14 electrodes all over my chest. The doc basically advised that they were going to check the structure of my heart, as well as the valves to make sure there were no abnormalities or blockages. Once I was hooked up he did an ultrasound on my chest near my heart and took a bunch of pictures (Lots of breathe in - hold - breath outs) Afterwords I was put on a treadmill with a steep incline in an attempted to get my heart to a certain rate at which point I would have 1 minute to jump off and have him snap a few more comparison pix of my heart in action. We actually rehearsed it as literally there is only 1 minute to get from the treamill back onto the bed and in place in order to get an accurate read. Needless to say but it went fine. He had all my previous results and basically told me everything had come back great with the exception that i had a high liver enzyme count. Apparently this is very common with large people (also known as having a fatty liver), and was advised that it would be corrected by the surgery.

So thats it. I made my first call to 1800 Get thin on Janurary 29th. 3 months and 20 days later I have done numerous testing, got a financial hardship waver, was approved for insurance coverage and now am just 1 single day away from the lap band - something I really didnt fathom would happen.

I think to this point, It really never hit me on how big this is. Honestly I have had doubts in recent days. But one thing I keep reading is the struggles and heartache some people have who are not as lucky as me to get such a quick and easy pathway to the lap band. I should be greatful and chopping at the bit, considering there are thousands (maybe tens of thousands) who would give anything to be in my place.

I actually forced myself to check out the surgery on youtube.. dont know if that was such a good idea (who knew fat was yellow?). It really was sort of incredible to watch the man work.. but boy o boy it looks so easy to just scrape an organ in there.. gotta keep positive thoughts though..

I am going to need to take a sleeping pill to get me to sleep tonight and tomorrow as the anxiety has me wired.

Im going to post throughout the day leading up to my surgery, and will blog as soon as I get home, for all who would like to follow.

Again thanks for reading and please comment before ya go! Good luck to all, no matter where you are in your path!

-Chris