This time next week I hope I'm feeling well and relaxing after having surgery the day before. I plan to take my notebook to the hospital as they have wifi.

I went yesterday to Dr. Castro's Pre-Op class. At first I thought it was kinda dum to make a pre-op/post op who had originally lost 140 pounds before my band went all bitch on me to attend such a class.

It started at 8 am. They had a slide show presentation with several different speakers. They had the Bariatric Coordinator Nurse over Methodist to talk to us, She was a Gastric Bypass success story. They had a nutritional lady come in and teach us about the nutritional stuff we needed to know.

Here are a few tips I learned:

1. Pay attention to the # of servings per container.

2. Get 60-80 grams of Protein each day in order to burn FAT NOT the LEAN MUSCLE we want to keep.

And remember the 10/10 Rule instead of couting calories. Less than 10 grams of Sugar and less than 10 grams TOTAL FAT per meal. So basically keep it less than 30 grams of fat and 30 grams of Sugar PER DAY and you should lose weight. Much easier than keeping track of calories. They said stuff low in each of those two things are naturally lower calorie, so no calorie counting needed.

Then we had this really (I'm sure nice) REALLY, REALLY pumped up Exercise Phsyiologist (sp) come in and talk about exercise.

And of course we all had our Psych Evals. I passed with no problems except with the advice to take more time for myself because ALL mothers give give give until they are dead for others and feel guilty for taking a second for themselves, I'm sooo guilty of that having my 5 year old and 19 month old. It's pathetic.

I also saw Dr. Castro for my last pre-op visit. The more time I spend with him the more respect he earns from me. Coming from a VERY picky person who worked for an "Old School" do the best for the patient doctor I am hard to surprise. Dr. Castro continues to surprise me with how serious and how much he CARES about my success. I am apart of his research study he is currently doing in order to hopefully make the Sleeve a more "Insurance Acceptable" method of WLS. I think that the ONLY reason the horrible Lap Band and Realize Bands are on the market is because of the money and power the makers of both have. :huh0: It's definately not a safe product in my opinion.

Today I went for my pre-op testing. I had about 6-7 tubes of blood drawn. An RN named Happy (that's her real name) drew my blood and got it on the FIRST time which is RARE, so I was very Happy with Happy. lol. Next Happy did an EKG and she commented on how nice my heart was. Then on for a chest X-ray to make sure I don't have anything that might make me a good case for pneumonia.

This process has really been different than my previous experience with the Lap Band folks, Dr. Castro also does Gastric Banding but he is even picky with WHO he does and who he recommends for the banding. I just get the impression he doesn't recommend it that much anymore. I also got two great books filled with invaluable information such as protein powders that other recommend, suggestions on foods to eat when and how and recipes. They even put in what to order at fast food places. I may post some of it on the forum boards AND on my here (my blog) when I have more time.

I must continue to low fat diet and try not to lose weight. Because I have a low BMI and primarily drink my meals, I was not placed on a Pre-op diet. I was told NOT to gain weight to keep my Liver as happy as possible. On Wedneday, the day before, I start a clear liquid diet. Then nothing to eat after Midnight. I must take a shower both Wednesday night and Thursday morning in a special scrub they use on pre-ops to help keep infection rates low. I am to arrive at the hospital at 8am for my 10am surgery.

So at this point, I've done everything to prepare except the two showers. Now I just sit back and enjoy the last few non-painful days with my family and kiddos. I expect to be in a lot of pain because of other medications I take that can interfere with pain meds and my Epilepsy that makes certain pain meds unavailable.

Please keep me and my young family in your prayers on Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 10am Central Time.

Thanks,

Carrie