Hey...another newbie here!

[DownInSocal 12]

Any calls back yet?

[nouveau-debut 0]

Jeff,

Thank you for sharing your story. Sounds like you are on the right track to a new start!

[Baldrick 0]

Meant to post a few days ago, but between a mix of different things over the past few days I've just kept forgetting.

Anyway the person I talk with at the Ministry of Health said that official authorization/approval was given to Cleveland. I then received a call from Cleveland the next morning and they confirmed that and said they were not looking at me coming down in mid to late September.

A bit later then I would have hoped, but nonetheless September is not far off. They want me to get a few more tests done...one of which is another sleep test to get my CPAP pressure readjusted (haven't had that done since 2006), which is not something I am looking forward too.

Other than that it just seems like I have to jump through a few hoops to make sure the surgery happens. I don't foresee anything that would cause a problem. My blood work two months ago came back with everything in normal levels, and I am hoping there is nothing wrong with my heart. Youth and luck seem to be on my side.

Only other thing I am working on is trying to get some stamina built up so I can walk a bit easier post-op.

Anyway just wanted to give an update.

Oh and the other thing I am looking forward too is getting my teeth cleaned in two weeks. Found an article about a lady who lives in my area who actually goes to people's homes to do teeth cleaning. She is a dental hygenist and I guess they were granted the ability to do something like this. Now if only I could get a tooth extracted at home I'd be on top of the world, lol. Have needed a decaying tooth extracted for the past 3 years, but it is not really an easy thing to do when you are my size.

[DownInSocal 12]

I am worried about your tooth! Our bodies go through so much after surgery that your tooth could really blow up unto a full on abcess. Do think it is possible when you are in Cleveland to have a dentist come to the hospital and remove it there?

I really think you should try and figure out a way to get this dealt with before surgery. Is it a simple extraction or is it complex because the tooth has decayed below the gumline?

Edit: Also I am worried that when you get to Cleveland they may not want to do surgery until it is dealt with which will cause delays for you.

[Baldrick 0]

I know the side of the tooth that touches my check is still about the gum-line. The inner side of the tooth is definitely below the gum-line now. It is basically just that one side and then the roots left.

Doubtful that I could have it dealt with in Cleveland due to costs...not sure what it would cost to have it done down in the US compared to Ontario. Most hospitals cannot fully accommodate someone my size, which only perpetuates the problem further. If it wasn't for these types of barriers I would have had the problem dealt with back when it would have been easier to deal with.

I suppose I could try calling the last dentist office I saw about this problem (although that was nearly 3 years ago), and see if they have any suggestions on how to proceed.

My only concern is pain...the past couple of days have been good, but a few days ago I would be in partial agony, especially after eating.

I'd love to get it dealt with before surgery as well...I honestly don't care about my wisdom teeth because they are fully out and don't seem to bother me at all...although who knows if there are any cavities. My CPAP makes matters worse because the blowing air causes plaque to solidify faster so I should be having more regular cleanings. Different times I think it would be better to just have full dentures...even though I am only 24, lol. No more toothaches, lol!

[DownInSocal 12]

Please call the last dentist you saw and I am sending a private message with a man who might be able to help but I am not positive. It is a long shot but worth it.

As far as the costs for the dentisit to come to the hospital? I would start emailing dentsists in the Cleveland area your story and ask for a reduced fee or donated time. Keep a list of all dentists starting with the closest to the hospital. Even if they say sorry no reply with a thank you. You never know!!! The dentisit I worked for years ago did a lot of pro bono (good for the community) work.

[Baldrick 0]

Well it doesn't seem like it's been a month since I last posted, but then again I really don't have a good sense of time.

Anyway I have a couple updates.

1. Cleveland says they want me down there for the week of the 28th of September. Still trying to get a better time frame of what day exactly so that everything can be coordinated (transportation, local news coming down to do some filming for a follow story on me, and so my mom can book time off work).

I've been told that I will send a couple days at the main campus (where the surgery will be done), getting all the tests they want done prior to surgery. Once that is done I will be transferred 17 miles down the road to Euclid Hospital and spend 7-10 days there being optimized for surgery (liquid Protein diet, etc.). Then I will be transferred back to the main campus for surgery and spend 3-5 recovering there and if all looks well I'll be sent back to Euclid and spend roughly 2 weeks there before potentially getting the green light to return home.

Lately I have just been grasping my head around all possible outcomes. I do not want to go into the surgery thinking I have absolutely nothing to worry about. I realize there are risks, especially for someone my size, and that death is one possible outcome. Now I am not saying that I think I'll have one of the risks, but I just feel it is best to go in prepared for any outcome. I think the only thing I am nervous about is if they put me under and decide that they can't do it laparoscopically and end up doing it open. That would probably be the most devastating thing for me.

2. I had my teeth cleaned at home by a very friendly dental hygenist who lives in the same city as me and goes around the region doing home visits. She spoke with a colleague who agreed to see me. So this past Wednesday I went in and within 30 minutes the problematic tooth I have been living with for three years are gone. I was going to take it home as a trophy, but I decided I'd rather be rid of it for good, ha ha. Luckily I have not experienced much pain at all. A couple times I felt a slight tinge, and just to play it safe at night I take a couple acetimenophen before bed just to be sure.

After the surgery when I am able to get out and about comfortably I will head back for a complete oral check up and have any other work done. I know a couple teeth will require some fillings, and there might potentially be one that requires a root canal, but I could be wrong.

If all goes well with the surgery I am hoping that I'll be able to get out to an NHL game in Toronto at the end of January for my birthday. That's what I told my mom I wanted to do as a means to officially begin living life again. I'll still be a big guy (only about 3-3.5 months post-op), but I'm figuring I will be under 600lbs by that time and I know at that weight I could walk a KM without feeling like I was going to die! I'd be out of breath, but not gasping for air.

I think Once I get to the 550-500lbs mark I'll start looking into going to a pool as a means of exercise. It has been years since I last went swimming, and being an Aquarius I love the water! Perhaps I can convince my mom to come along and bring my little niece along as well.

Anyway another lengthy update so I'll leave it at this.

Cheers!

[DownInSocal 12]

I feel much better about the tooth being taken care of before surgery!

This is all so exciting. Things have really come together. If you get a surgery date before you leave be sure to put it on the calendar.

I can't say that I fully understand your position about the fear of surgery because your risks were so much higher than mine. I did think about it though. I thought about it enough I updated my will. I did come to peace the night before though. That is the only thing I could tell you.

Do you have a lap top? Do you know if you will have any net? If not we will have to go so long without an update because of all your stops.

The way you feel on liquids prior to surgery will be different than the way you will feel on it after surgery I promise. I still have not felt real hunger. When my stomach feels "empty" like something going in would bounce off the bottom is how I know I am hungery.

Do you live alone? The reason I ask is my hardest thing has been my family eating around me. If you live alone I would tell people to stay away with food. If they show up with it tell them to beat it. If I am not around people eating I don't feel left out and do fine.

[Bob_350lbs 105]

Hey SoCal, you are so right about family being supportive, they can make or break you. It's kinda like an alcoholic recovering in family of drunks. LapSF believes that their pts will not succeed without the family cooperating and keeping the junk out of the house. I live alone, and it has helped a lot, when I spend the weekend with family, if they are cooking and eating high carb foods, like spaghetti, mac & cheese, choc chip Cookies, it is so much harder to comply with the program. You have to put your foot down!

But, the good news is that the first two weeks on liquids are easy. It is nothing like before. This time you have no appetite and you stomach is swollen from the surgery, so you just have to sip, sip, sip, to get in your fluids and Protein.

The first day home, I was super-sensitive to artificial sweetners and thought I would fail, because I couldn't literally "stomach" my Protein shakes. The nurse told me to drink milk, so that is what I did until day 3. Then miracles of miracles, on day 3, I could drink my Protein Shakes, and by week 3 was on mushies, and by week 6 eating reg foods. I have had no complications, except Constipation, diarrhea, which is normal in the beginning for a lot of us. But do not under any circumstances consume anything but liquids for 2 weeks, or whatever your surgeon recommends. There have been pts that have eaten one bite of broccoli during phase one and ended up in the hospital for over a month after the did that. Don't mess around.

My only problem is learning to eat slowly. You must take 30 min to consume your meals. If you don't, it hurts real bad and you could hurt yourself. If you don't have time for a 30 min meal, drink a Protein shake.

Anway, that is all for now.

Edited September 13, 2009 by Steph_123

[Gabriella21 0]

Hello Jeff...I so understand what you've been going through being that I am a fellow Canadian. I live in Montreal Quebec and the wait time for surgery is ridiculous. You are fortunate that you are able to go to the States with OHIP kicking in to pay for your surgery and stay there.

I've been on a waiting list for over 2 years for Dr.Christou...supposedly the top in his field in Quebec. You would have probably been eligible to come to Montreal at Dr. Christou's private clinic because, I believe, that the OHIP would cover it. This is directly from Dr.Christou's web-site:

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario (through OHIP) will pay for gastric bypass surgery for Ontario patients at our private facility in Montreal. Once approved, Ontario patients can have their surgery within 4-6 weeks, the time required to properly prepare them for safe surgery. To get this approval you need to contact your physician and ask to be referred to the Regional Assessment Center (RAC) closest to you.

I unfortunately need to wait...upto 2 more years for just a consult.

Good Luck to you and keep us posted...we're cheering for you!!

Ada :sad0:

[Finally! 0]

Hey Jeff-

Loved reading your story. Congrats on everything you're doing. Tell your mom I think she's amazing for submitting your story - a supportive family is so important. Give her an extra hug for all of us.

Keep us all posted. Are you taking a laptop with you? I think it would be amazing if you would start a blog or something to document your progress and the emotional journey you're on. You could give hope to a lot of people and you'd probably receive a lot of love & support back from people you share your story with.

Best,

ID

[Baldrick 0]

I feel much better about the tooth being taken care of before surgery!

This is all so exciting. Things have really come together. If you get a surgery date before you leave be sure to put it on the calendar.

I can't say that I fully understand your position about the fear of surgery because your risks were so much higher than mine. I did think about it though. I thought about it enough I updated my will. I did come to peace the night before though. That is the only thing I could tell you.

Do you have a lap top? Do you know if you will have any net? If not we will have to go so long without an update because of all your stops.

The way you feel on liquids prior to surgery will be different than the way you will feel on it after surgery I promise. I still have not felt real hunger. When my stomach feels "empty" like something going in would bounce off the bottom is how I know I am hungery.

Do you live alone? The reason I ask is my hardest thing has been my family eating around me. If you live alone I would tell people to stay away with food. If they show up with it tell them to beat it. If I am not around people eating I don't feel left out and do fine.

I'm glad that tooth is gone, and I am quite fortunate that I have had literally no pain.

I plan to have a living will in place just to be safe. While I don't have a ton of money, I do have a lot of stuff that could liquidated into cash. My mom is pretty much being named for all purpose: power of attorney (I told her she can't pull the plug, ha ha...seriously), and then getting all my possessions. I know my dad would hate me for that if I were to pass away, not that I feel this will be the case. Although my dad and a couple of my friends have put claims on certain things if I die, which is in bad taste if you ask me.

I have a netbook that I will be bringing with me for entertainment purposes, and when I asked about WiFi I was told that there was access to it so we shall see. I am bringing my iPhone with me as I think I have mentioned in an earlier post, just in case there is no WiFi. I'll get a T-Mobile SIM card and get their $1 unlimited data per day plan and then tether it to my netbook.

Lauara at the Cleveland Clinic wants me to keep a journal on my stay at their facilities as I am apparently their first Class 3 patient. She said I am basically a guinea pig in a sense, but that they were going to do everything they could to make sure my stay is as comfortable as possible.

I do live alone, which is both a good and bad thing. If I were living with either of my parents I wouldn't have gotten to the point I am in. I lived with my grandmother from June 2001 to September 2006 and that is where I went from 350-663lbs. I demanded food and she obliged me. I do not blame her one bit, although my mom does. Yes she bought me the food, but I would have been a little bugger if I didn't get it. I'm not proud of throwing little fits from time to time, but I know that it is part of the eating disorder controlling my actions to an extent...I bought into that during my stay at an eating disorder program.

Hey SoCal, you are so right about family being supportive, they can make or break you. It's kinda like an alcoholic recovering in family of drunks. LapSF believes that their pts will not succeed without the family cooperating and keeping the junk out of the house. I live alone, and it has helped a lot, when I spend the weekend with family, if they are cooking and eating high carb foods, like spaghetti, mac & cheese, choc chip Cookies, it is so much harder to comply with the program. You have to put your foot down!

But, the good news is that the first two weeks on liquids are easy. It is nothing like before. This time you have no appetite and you stomach is swollen from the surgery, so you just have to sip, sip, sip, to get in your fluids and Protein.

The first day home, I was super-sensitive to artificial sweetners and thought I would fail, because I couldn't literally "stomach" my Protein shakes. The nurse told me to drink milk, so that is what I did until day 3. Then miracles of miracles, on day 3, I could drink my Protein Shakes, and by week 3 was on mushies, and by week 6 eating reg foods. I have had no complications, except Constipation, diarrhea, which is normal in the beginning for a lot of us. But do not under any circumstances consume anything but liquids for 2 weeks, or whatever your surgeon recommends. There have been pts that have eaten one bite of broccoli during phase one and ended up in the hospital for over a month after the did that. Don't mess around.

My only problem is learning to eat slowly. You must take 30 min to consume your meals. If you don't, it hurts real bad and you could hurt yourself. If you don't have time for a 30 min meal, drink a protein shake.

Anway, that is all for now.

I'm a very cautious person...I do not like pain and go out of my way to avoid it. So I might be hard pressed to make sure I sip, sip, sip away for the first couple of weeks. I know I will definitely not be moving onto mushies or solids before I should be progressing. I might actually stay on liquids for a longer period of time just to make sure things are alright with my new tummy.

I'm hoping I can get lucky and forgo any constipation...I'd prefer diarrhea any day of the week.

Is there much chance of vomiting with the sleeve? I think that is one thing I have never gotten a definite answer on and I never seem to think about it when I get "do you have any questions?" asked to me. I haven't puked since Feb. 13th 2000 (night before my dad married my step-mom, got violently ill...very interesting, lol), and I would like to keep it that way, lol.

Hello Jeff...I so understand what you've been going through being that I am a fellow Canadian. I live in Montreal Quebec and the wait time for surgery is ridiculous. You are fortunate that you are able to go to the States with OHIP kicking in to pay for your surgery and stay there.

I've been on a waiting list for over 2 years for Dr.Christou...supposedly the top in his field in Quebec. You would have probably been eligible to come to Montreal at Dr. Christou's private clinic because, I believe, that the OHIP would cover it. This is directly from Dr.Christou's web-site:

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario (through OHIP) will pay for gastric bypass surgery for Ontario patients at our private facility in Montreal. Once approved, Ontario patients can have their surgery within 4-6 weeks, the time required to properly prepare them for safe surgery. To get this approval you need to contact your physician and ask to be referred to the Regional Assessment Center (RAC) closest to you.

I unfortunately need to wait...upto 2 more years for just a consult.

Good Luck to you and keep us posted...we're cheering for you!!

Ada :drool5:

I have heard about Dr. Christou, however I don't think he would have taken me on as a patient due to my size. There are very few surgeons who will take on a patient like myself as the risks are that much higher and of course their numbers are very big determining factors on why patients choose them.

Waiting times in Canada are ridiculous and while the Ontario Government says they are boosting their programs for bariatrics, I do not see it happening quick enough. It takes forever to get a consult (roughly 2 years), and then probably another 1-2 years before surgery in some cases.

I had to jump through hoops just to get approval for out of country surgery. Although I think they made me do that because I applied for a Duodenal Switch and even though I applied before OHIP suspended approvals for the DS, they had me do the a consult in Mississauga, then I had to wait 4-6 weeks for them to hash out a deal with Cleveland, which I only accepted because it seemed like the only option available to me at this time.

But it's been 8 months or so since I first applied so I am happy with the way things have turned out thus far.

Hey Jeff-

Loved reading your story. Congrats on everything you're doing. Tell your mom I think she's amazing for submitting your story - a supportive family is so important. Give her an extra hug for all of us.

Keep us all posted. Are you taking a laptop with you? I think it would be amazing if you would start a blog or something to document your progress and the emotional journey you're on. You could give hope to a lot of people and you'd probably receive a lot of love & support back from people you share your story with.

Best,

ID

I do plan to do something. I've been trying to decide on a URL (webpage address), for a few weeks and I want to get it before I head down to Cleveland. I intend to host my blog on the domain. So if someone want to see my blog they would simply go to www.[whatevernameIchoose].com

I own the rights to www.theroomofrequirement.com (have had it for about 5 years when I intended to make a Harry Potter fan site), but I don't think the name really suits the purposes of my weight loss journey.

I am open to suggestions if anyone has any though.

I think I covered all the questions, if not then I do apologize.

Also Laura told me they want me down there for the 28th, so just under 2 weeks to go. I'm planning to start a liquid Protein diet come Sunday or Monday. Not sure what my best over the counter option is? Whatever Protein Shake stuff I do get I might have 1-2 more a day just to keep hunger at bay. I believe Opti-Fast is like ~1000 calories? So I'm figuring my plan would be around ~1400 calories if I have the extra shakes. I just don't know what to get. Perhaps something that I can do now and then any extras could be used post-op? I know when I went to Mississauga for a consult they said to get some protein shakes to try out and find ones I liked. I also know some people find what they liked before surgery is not always the case afterwards.

Sorry this is me thinking out-loud, lol.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

You asked about throwing up. Yes, it's common for people to throw up at first with the sleeve.

If you eat too much, or eat something your new tummy does not like, up it comes. I hadn't done it in awhile, and then last week I ate some chicken too fast cause I was late to an appt. I didn't chew it well enough and took too big of bites and sure enough, I knew it was going to come back up. Believe me, when that happens, you're happy to have it come up rather than be miserable.

There is really no way of knowing what your'e going to like after surgery. I am one of the only people on here that liked what I liked before surgery and liked it just the same after surgery.

There is a thread I started that shows where you can get samples of different things to try. Everyone says not to buy too much of anything ahead because after surgery, you may hate it.

There is also the thread "rate your liquids" where people talk about what they like.

[Bob_350lbs 105]

The only thing that caused me to vomit, was when I got home from the hosp the first night, I crushed one of my meds and added to the top of the liquid pain medicine. My new stomach didn't like that and wretched about 5 times. If you wretch too much, it could disrupt the staple line, so you have to call your doc if that happens too much. My mom was so good to me, I moved to the chair in the living room, and she slept on the couch, near me, until I felt better. Sometimes, there is nothing better than family.

[MacMadame 81]

I hate to vomit too. But sleeve vomiting isn't that bad. And you can avoid it by not eating fast and chewing really well.