Brenda Barrett

CONGRATULATIONS!! Your post gives me so much hope!! I do have a question. In your first post, you mentioned having an abdominal band with you at the hospital. Do you mind sharing more information about that? My doc called tonight to let me know he had an opening on 5/31 so that is now my surgery date and I just want to make sure I have everything in place with it being only a few short weeks away. Thank you in advance and again, CONGRATULATIONS!!

We just received the call from my surgeon tonight that he had an opening on May 31st and scheduled me for that day. I have two appointments left w/ the dietician (5/2 and 5/16) and on 5/17 is when I start my liquid diet phase. I was so excited to receive his call but I'm also so nervous. More than anything, I just can't wait to be on the other side of this surgery. Congratulations to everyone on their May dates and best of luck to you all! Save me a seat on the loser's bench, please!

Hey guys! I'm Brenda from DC (sorry, wasn't comfortable using my real name) and I'm BEYOND nervous about making this post. It's taken me almost two weeks to even make an account on this site. I don't know why. I'm not even remotely close to shy or nervous in real life, so bear with me here. On March 20th, I met with the incredible Dr. Daniel Tran at Howard University Hospital. He's going to be my surgeon, and he's just so knowledgable and personable that he quickly put me at ease, spent a great deal of time answering all of my very crazy questions, and I felt like a new person just walking out of his office that day. That evening, I attended the information session hosted at the hospital, and the next day, on March 21st, I started the process HUH (Howard University Hospital) has in place by meeting w/ Evelyn Dakwa, Bariatric Nurse Coordinator. I will be meeting with Evelyn every 2 weeks, 5 more times, until my surgery, for a total of 6 times. (cost of $300 total for the 6 sessions w/ her in case anyone in the DC area is saving for surgery) On the 21st, during my first appointment with Evelyn, they provided me with my body composition analysis (OMG, I never, ever needed to know any of that, although, actually, I really did). It wasn't something I had ever been told or had reviewed in such great depth, but it was a real eye opener and it really solidified why I need this surgery. For now, Evelyn has put me on a 1200 calorie "Modified Carbohydrate Diet w/ Breakfast Supplement" (a Protein shake as a replacement for breakfast) to help me lose 8 pounds (10% of my excess weight) before surgery. I haven't yet started on the protein shakes because the pre-approved ones she listed as options all contain some type of soy and due to a very severe case of PCOS, stage 3 endometriosis, and countless fibroids, I can't have ANYTHING with soy in it, so I'm going to revisit that with her on my upcoming visit this Tuesday. (Meanwhile, if any of you have recommendations, I'm all ears) But I've strictly followed the rest of the diet, and I've even cut out coffee, cold turkey. For exercise, she has me walking 30 minutes a day. I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm terrified, I'm happy, I'm anxious... I'm pretty much any and every emotion that exists, but more than anything, I guess I want to use this first post to say THANK YOU to all of you. You may not realize it, but your posts really do provide comfort to those of us who are just starting out. Even though I've read countless blogs and every medical article and journal out there about gastric bypass, YOUR POSTS are the ones that make me feel like everything will be okay. And your posts are the ones that let me know I'm not alone, despite feeling like it. So, again, THANK YOU. And hello!

Sorry, I know you posted a while ago, but may I ask which Iron patch you purchased and use? I'd love to order mine now before my surgery! Thanks in advance!

My mom and I started the process together - met with two surgeons, picked the one we liked best, and then started the process w/ their bariatric nurse coordinator. Today, two days before our second appointment (#2 out of 6), she bowed out. She said she doesn't think she has what it takes to do this 12 week process leading up to the operation, let alone what it takes to follow the post-op rules and long term eating rules. I'm now trying to convince her that she does indeed have what it takes and that we can do it together and that I'll be by her side the entire time. I've actually temporarily relocated home so I could be with my family throughout this entire process (my dad is a doc, my sis is a pharm d, and many other family members are physicians and are within a 2 hour flight of my parents home if needed in a worst case scenario situation). I hope I can convince her but she's fairly stubborn, so we'll see. If this is at all in line with what you need, let me know. Originally I was super shy and nervous posting on this site, but apparently at 1:51 am, lacking sleep, I have all the courage I need. (Also, what do you know, I'm in Maryland too)

Yay! That's great! The way things are shaping up, I should have a June date as well!!

Ahh!! That makes so much sense!! Thank you so much!!

Sorry, I'm new to all this - what's an MMO?