Moving into June and July saw some changes. The surgeon I had initially chosen got a new job and was moving to New York. All of her cases were reassigned to one of the other staff doctors. I was nervous about that since I had chosen a female surgeon because I felt I would be more comfortable talking to her. My new surgeon would be male.
I hadn’t met him yet, though I was told that his requirements for surgery were not as strict. He didn’t require pulmonary clearance, which some surgeons do, and he didn’t have a limit on what BMI he would operate on. That’s not to say he wasn’t going to be reckless. In my research, which I started after beginning this process, I learned that more experienced surgeons will sometimes have more lenient requirements. They’ve learned what they can and cannot deal with. Additionally, everyone at the clinic and hospital, both medical professionals and other patients, who had worked with this surgeon absolutely sang his praises. I began to feel more comfortable about the change.
My July visit I was down another fifteen pounds or so. This was very encouraging to me because in June it wasn’t a significant change, though I did still see a loss which meant I was still on track. Any month with a gain rather than a loss would send me back to month one and I’d have to start over. I was determined that would not happen.
I got my psych clearance and attended the support group where I was able to say that since I started the program in March I had lost fifty pounds so far. The group was actually very interesting, and if it wasn’t an eighty mile round trip and scheduled during the last hour of my work day, I would probably have attended more than once.
By the end of July, things were starting to look very promising. Summer was in full swing and I was able to swim nearly every day which helped my progress immensely. I had been scheduled for my EGD for August 14th, and that was when the surgeon would use an endoscope to make sure my GI tract was intact and there was no reason to delay surgery any longer. It would also be the first time I would meet the surgeon, allowing the office to finally request insurance authorization for my surgery.
Because of all of the doctor appointments, I had to work closely with my supervisor and HR at work to make sure I had everything in order to be excused from work for so many days over the course of the year.
I still hadn’t told very many people about what I was doing. My parents knew, and my grandmother, and a few friends. But I was hesitant to share with too many people. There are a lot of misconceptions about bariatric surgery, but I had learned over the past months that this was in no way a quick fix, magic bullet, whatever you want to call it. It was and is hard work and takes being completely dedicated to doing whatever the doctor tells you that you need to do.
It hasn’t been easy, and I can’t see that it will become easy, but I haven’t regretted it.
My Journey 