Dementia999

Probably like most stories - been heavy most of my life, been on every diet ever created, got health problems now that I'm getting older, wanna be around for a while longer....blah blah blah

I went through the motions of having a gastric bypass about 10 years ago. Long story short, major fiasco. I had a PCP I thought I could trust and she turned on me and put the kabosh on my surgery. So, I gave up. Kept trying different diets and was successful with a 40 pound loss with Weight Watchers back in 2009ish. Gained it back plus some.

After connecting with an old friend on FB, she told me about her weight struggles and that she was about 1.5 years postop on a gastric bypass. She looked great and was down about 160 pounds. That got me thinking again and next thing I know, I'm making an appointment to go to a seminar. I picked Dr. Peter Rantis at Alexian Brothers Hospital because he was the one giving the seminar. Also because I thought he was funny and he made me laugh. Those things are important!

Talked with my husband about it and decided to move ahead with everything.

I have BC/BS ***. Made an appointment to see my new PCP who is behind me 100% (I love her!). Then met with Dr. Rantis and again he made me laugh. We decided that I was going to have a gastric sleeve, even though he said I could pretty much pick and choose what I wanted. I started doing all the various testing that the insurance requires for consideration, which is - cardiovascular, pulmonary, psychiatric, various bariatric classes, dietary classes, and at least a year of an approved weight loss program. Luckily I had just cancelled a 1.5 year membership with Weight Watchers and had lots of data to share with the insurance company.

During all the testing, I was found to have (on top of my sleep apnea, allergey induced asthma, IBS and allergies) hypothyroidism, pre-diabetes and a B-12 deficiency. Lovely. So, it's a good thing I decided to have the surgery. Might not have know about these other problems for a while. They hypothyroidism also explains why I couldn't lose any weight this summer. I was driving myself nuts trying to figure out what I was doing wrong!

I got my insurance approval the other day, surgery all squared away (still waiting for the surgical staff to call me for a time for the surgery), and just started my two week bariatric replacement meals today (12/5). The shakes aren't bad. I'm having caffeine withdrawal tho and the headache is pretty nasty. Other than that, I feel pretty good.

I'm scared as hell and I have thought of backing out more than once, but I know that I need this. It's the only thing that's going to keep me on track and get me healthier. I know it's going to be for the rest of my life, but I look at it like this - I've had 42 years of doing what I want in regards to eating, drinking, etc. Those days are over. Time for a change. Change is good. I've made major changes in my life before, I can do it again. I can do this! I rock!!!! :D