Basically I’m in the very beginning steps of the process. I’ve had one initial meeting with my doctor. After going through all their pre-visit videos and paperwork (twice, due to the first false start) I went in with a basic understanding of the options and the process.
My options really boiled down to either a gastric sleeve or a gastric bypass. Considering I have had chronic heartburn for many years, I opted for the gastric bypass, aka Roux-en-Y, aka RNY. (In case you are wondering the name means “in the shape of a Y”.) The sleeve tends to aggravate heartburn where as the RNY tends to help with it.
So here’s where I’m at and what I have going on:
- I’ve had my initial visit – about a month ago as of this writing. This doc is hard to get into and there’s a lot to do so it’s not going to be an overnight process.
- I have to get an endoscopy – At first he wanted me to get both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, but i just had the later last year. Colonoscopies are not the most fun so I didn’t want to have another. But due to the heartburn he wanted the endoscope. So I have my initial appointment for that in about a week.
- I have to get some bloodwork – I will get this at my regular doctor, but I have to get some specific panels for this surgery. I haven’t scheduled that yet but I see my doc every 3 months or so, so I know I will get that done before the surgery.
- I have therapy scheduled – the doctor requires some therapy (4 sessions I believe) before surgery. I have my first one coming up in a couple of weeks.
- I am food journaling – I have to journal all of my food for 5 days (3 weekdays, 2 weekend days). I have the 3 weekdays done, I need to do 2 weekend days. I may try to get one of those in this weekend. This is due when I see the nutritionist.
- I have an appointment with the nutritionist – this is with the in-office nutritionist at the doctors office. I have that at the end of this month. I’m guessing we will talk about eating before and after the surgery. dos and don’ts. General nutrition. Honestly I’m not really sure.
- Lose 25 points – They want me to lose 25 pounds before the surgery. They told me not to worry about this until after the nutrition appointment. I suspect this is just to see if you are committed and can do it. I’m a little nervous about this but not too much. When you are as big as I am, I can lose 10-15 pounds in just a few days.
So that’s where I am. A lot of hurry up and wait and getting my ducks in a row.