Yesterday I spent a couple of hours at the hospital to pre-register for my surgery on the 18th, to meet with my nurse practitioner, and to meet with the nutritionist.

The nurse practitioner gave me 2 prescriptions to fill before I get to the hospital so that I would have them when I got home after surgery; Omeparazole and Lortab Elixir. She gave me some papers with discharge guidelines and stuff to do or not to do before and after surgery. She asked me if I had any questions, and reminded me that I could call or email her at anytime if I needed to speak with her. She is frickin awesome.

I met with the nutritionist who gave me the guidelines for my pre-op fast. I already had them, so what she told me wasnt a shock or anything. She expressed that most patients lose the bulk of their weight in the 1st 9-12 months and that she really hopes I understand how important it is to stick to her guidelines and those of the surgeon. She said she has a good record so far with the surgeons - meaning all of her clients who have gone in for surgery have had "shrunken" livers. She threatened me, saying I better not mess up her record! I asked her if surgeons really turn patients away for having distended livers and she said that she's heard of it happening, just not to her patients. Imagine getting opened up for surgery, then closed back up and sent home because your liver was too fat? SMH. I would die! Anyhoo, she too reminded me that she was just a phone call away for any questions I may have even if I thought they might be stupid, I should ask her. She's kinda awesome too.

She highly recommends the Bariatric Advantage High Protein Meal Replacement Shakes and their control bar for snacking. I told her I didnt want to invest my money in that stuff, I preferred to go into my local Vitamin Shoppe and purchase my protein stuff. She gave me a list of things that were pretty good, and I ended up with with Nectar Chocolate Truffle. Delish!

I went down to the pre-admission testing office to give blood and have a cardiogram performed. My PCP will review my blood work and give the final thumbs up on my surgery (hopefully) and I'll be all set to go for October 18th!!!!

One thing that alarmed me during my discussion with my NP....she asked me how much time I took off from work and I told her that I would be back at work the following Monday after my surgery (surg is on a Tues). She asked me if I really thought that was enough time and I explained that I really dont have much time because I had to use so much of it to go on all these pre-op appointments! I sit at a desk all day and dont lift anything other than mail, so I told her I thought I'd be ok. My job thinks I'm having gall bladder surgery, so I may be able to squeeze an extra day off, but I'll play it by ear. Cant miss too much work, people are losing their jobs around me left and right, cant give them a reason to let me go.

Well, that was my day yesterday. I'll be traveling out of the country on family business, so I'll be taking my Nectar with me. I just hope they dont give me a hard time at the airport....