So, on Friday I had the 3 hour psych exam, barium swallow and nutrition class. The worst part was the barium test, but it wasn't that bad. The two liquids I had to chug were pretty gross. I felt kinda nauseous afterwards since you're not allowed to eat breakfast before the exam.

Yesterday, I had the psych consult, the physical activity eval and the sleep discussion. At the psych consult, she reviewed the results of the test, gave me a cool food journal, and we talked about my feelings about the surgery. She set my weightloss goal at 140lbs, so that means I should weight 154lbs. She also went over all the chemical changes that would be happening in my brain during the 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after surgery due to the liquid and mushy diet calorie restriction and my body detoxing off of carbs, sugar, etc. At the end, she said that I was approved for surgery and could go set my date. :thumbup:I was SO excited. I went back to the receptionist, and she reminded me that I had the sleep eval in 5 minutes. I decided to wait to set the date after that meeting.

When I was in the sleep Dr's office, he looked down my throat, listened to me breathe, and showed a powerpoint on why sleep apnea is bad. Since I'm not tired during the day, I don't take naps, and I have no family history, I thought I was good to go. Well, the Dr said he wanted me to do a sleep study before he signed off on my surgery because I'm black and obese. According to him, black people have a higher risk and 90% of obese people have it. So basically, 9 out 10 people that walk in his door (b/c he works at the lapband office) he gets to charge for a sleep study. . . This seems like a conflict of interests to me, but I'm a little biased against him now.:confused: He explained that during the sleep study, I needed to sleep on my back b/c that's where sleep apnea mostly occurs. I told him that I never sleep on my back because my boobs would suffocate me, so why did I need to take the test to find a problem that won't occur if I don't sleep on my back? I was so upset!!!:thumbup: I was all ready to set my date, and now I have to wait to take a test that is basically a waste of money because it's testing something I don't do?? Oh, and the best part is he's not sure how much my copay will be until he submits it to my insurance company. So it can cost between $250 and $800 for this stupid test. I scheduled it for tonight because I want to get it over with so I can set my date. Hopefully, it'll go fine, but it creeps me out that people will be watching me while I sleep and I'll be forced to sleep on my back. I probably won't be able to sleep . . .then I'm not sure what he'll do.

Well, I'm going to try to go calm down. There's no point in being angry, I just need to get it over with.

I did the sleep study recently and once they "hook you up" (wires with sticky electrodes everywhere; wear pants/top jammies not a nightgown so it's easier) it's no big deal. It takes me minimum 30 min. to fall asleep every night and I'm a super light sleeper as well (I sleep with a sound machine which I was told I could bring...turned it on and they came in to ask me to turn it down...the couldn't hear any of the patients snoring and they needed to monitor that as well-LOL)- So I was convinced I wouldn't sleep, but they told me they would come in and give me a sleep aid after a certain period of sleeplessness, that put me at ease and I slept. I was allowed to sleep as I usually do (side) and I actually tried to sleep on my back at a few points when I woke up...not sure if I stayed there long, just in case there was a problem (my Dad has sleep apnea so I wanted to know). I didn't worry about the monitoring, but then again I sleep with a second pillow over my head (DH snores) so they couldn't see me if they wanted to...they must have thought I was a nut job!...I just laid there and kept saying...go to your "happy place".

Oh tip- They put this thick "goo" on the electrodes that go on your head...I think so they don't have to use adhesive. I washed my hair about 4x when I got home...later that night I was watching TV and my DH noticed a huge blob with the paper still stuck in it on the back of my head! LOL-I wonder what people were thinking when I was out that day! Wash, Wash, Wash! I'm wondering if they do anything differently with your surgery if you do have sleep apnea (I didn't)...pressurized oxygen mask maybe? I had a neighbor growing up that died from this in his sleep, so it's a good thing to know. Hang in there tonight!

yes, the goo was horrible! I only slept 4 hours, but other than that, I made it!