395Ron

My name is Ron and I am just starting my weight loss surgery journey.  I have been researching weight loss surgery for a couple of months now.  I had decided that Gastric Bypass was the answer for me.  Then I found out that my insurance only covers Lap band or Gastric Bypass so that fit into my plan.  Now I had to find a hospital and surgeon.  A friend mentioned Inova Fairfax Hospital.  During my research I found that the places that give the best chances of less complications and success were Centers of Excellence.  I found out Inova Fair Oaks was a Center of Excellence so I signed up for their, 27 September 2014, seminar.  Dr. Amir Moazzez, the Medical Director for the Inova Weight Loss Surgery Program was giving the seminar.   After it was over I knew I wanted more information but I was not ready to commit to any hospital or surgeon just yet.  I asked during the conference if I was not ready to commit should I schedule an appointment to talk to the doctor and was told it was ok to do so.  I made an appointment for 3 October and began to think about whether I would want Inova and Dr. Amir Moazzez to be my surgeon.  During my research I heard about an insurance program called BLIS.  They insured people for bariatric surgery but it seemed to protect their insurance they only used the best doctors.  I reached out to them and they gave me the names of the doctors they use in my area.  There was no one in D.C. or Maryland.  I now went back to that paperwork and one of the names was Dr. Amir Moazzez.  I thought , ok they recommend him so he must be good.  The hospital he works with is a Center of Excellence and he is the Medical Director of the program.  This sounded promising but I needed to speak to him one on one at least before I made any decision.  During our appointment my wife and I bombarded him with questions.  He was very patient, used words we could understand, explanations we understood and was very thorough.  I have decided that he will be my surgeon.
 
My insurance requires a 3 month medically supervised weight loss program.  So I will participate in this 90 day program.
 
After the program is over they will submit my paperwork to my insurance and it will take maybe two weeks to hopefully come back with an approval.  Then we can look at scheduling a surgery date.  This usually takes another month so that puts me at the end of February as a possible surgery date.
 
I am extremely nervous.  To the point of losing sleep and having nightmares.  My wife is also extremely worried about this procedure.  Because of this we ask a lot of questions.  I am looking forward to the appointment with the Dietician so I can get the information I need to begin my weight loss journey before the surgery.
 
I hope to update this as I go along.
 
Attended first seminar: 27 September 2014 at Inova Fair Oaks with Amir Moazzez
Initial Consult: 3 October 2014 with Amir Moazzez.  Decided today he will be my surgeon
 
Scheduled
Initial Dietician Appt.: 10 October 2014 for 90 day Weight Loss Program.  Need to lose 30-35 lbs. before surgery.
Initial Exercise Specialist: 7 November 2014
Initial Behavior:  7 November 2014
2nd Dietician Appt.: 15 November 2014
3rd Dietician Appt.:  13 December 2014
 
1 Feb Surgery put on hold
 
14 July started looking to get the process started again.
 
First day of pre-op diet:
It went so much better than I thought it would.  I kept myself busy from getting up at 430 and having a shake to picking up the kids to taking them to the qualifier and then keeping an eye on them when they were in different locations.  When we got there about 9:30 I had a BA bar but then got so busy running around that I didn't have anything to eat except lots of water until 3pm.  I drank 2 shakes to make up for the ones I missed and my banana.  The kids had cheeseburgers and french fries oh how I wanted some of those!  But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Once I got home I had another shake and a bar and 2 Jell-O's.  I started getting a little headache and I was so tired I went to bed.
 
The biggest problem I really had and still am having today is missing my gum.  I used to be chewing gum almost constantly.  Now I find myself reaching for it and then remembering I can't have it.  They didn't say I had to quit chewing gum as well but I also didn't ask.  They told at an earlier appointment that after surgery chewing gum would add air to your pouch and that was not a good thing.  So I figured I would stop it now and get used to it.
 
I just got back from walking 6 miles so I am getting my exercise in.
 
I will not be so busy today so we will see how it goes.
 
403     14 Jul 2015 Highest Recorded Weight
397     26 Jul 2015 (-6)
390.4    9 Aug (-6.6)
389.8  17 Aug (-.6)
389.4  23 Aug (-.4)
386.6  30 Aug (-2.8)
388       6 Sep (+1.4)
373.2  13 Sep (-14.8) Started 4 weeks of liquid diet
366.8  20 Sep (-6.4)
361.8  27 Sep (-5)
356.4     3 Oct (-6) 32 lbs lost on 4 week liquid diet (47 pounds lost before surgery)