My Gastric Bypass, Part 1

Okay I said I might write about it and I have decided to do so, but even just doing the highlights would be the longest freaking post in the world. So my solution is to break it into 3 longish ones, so hopefully you will read it that way.


Well, my 3 year anniversary of having had my Gastric Bypass, is less than a month away. So I decided, hey, write about it. It was...a story for sure. Mine is the RYGB. No they did NOT give me pics of my surgery...I am NOT sad about this!

So it wasn't even my idea. I mean the concept I had heard of. I had actually been a good weight...until Auntie Flo started. I have major troubles with it, so they tried me on birth control and one of them made me gain weight...and POOF! my metabolism was gone, and I kept gaining over the years. And then a few years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes, and for the first few years, my sugar levels, etc. were well maintained with oral medications. But then they weren't working so good, my sugars were all over the place, my triglycerides were sky-rocketing,etc. Yeah, it is not really cool, when you first hear it and think your family thinks you are so fat, you need surgery. They said that wasn't the case, that they were scared for me. That was a pausing comment. Scared for me. My A1C numbers for my diabetes were very bad, and the increase of meds and additions to meds weren't improving the levels. And my Dad who is a diabetic, for like 12 years at least, was scared I would have to be on insulin, at such a young age. He wasn't and still isn't yet on insulin and wants to keep it that way. And they had done research and found out that weight loss surgery (WLS) can help if you are diabetic. So they said they were presenting it to me ...they were pretty sure they would yes me, being diabetic,etc.

WE found the surgeon presented as CT's best, and we went with Mom to a big meeting where he explains the options (lap-band vs. gastric bypass,etc) and what results to expect,etc, etc. Unfortunatley his computer went kaput and he had to "wing it". I was 100% for a lap band after that meeting. Less pain, adjustable band, it sounded like the better choice. Well, we didn't do anything for awhile, I don't recall why...but enough time went by that Dad wanted the four of us to go back to another explanatory meeting, so he could hear what Dr. Aranow had to say. And this time his slideshow presentation worked! And it made so much more sense. And I got to see the charts and numbers...like 90% of Diabetics who get the Gastric Bypass, end up on NO medicine after. And you lose double the weight if you get the bypass versus the lap band. Okay let's face it, the prospect of losing weight was higher on my list of what was important, than my diabetes. Shallow...yes...but honest. The thought of losing weight, and I had tried diets and Curves, etc and they did nothing.

So yeah, I changed my mind, and all of a sudden things were moving faster. We got our initial appointment with Dr. Aranow (who we call Doogie Howser, he looks SO young). He had to weighed and heights measured,etc, and from that he gave us the weight he expected we could get down to. But it was a weight that was only 16 pounds of what I had been in 10th grade...and I was fine with that weight, so I was hopeful I could be happy. But apparently a surgeon saying yes is not all that must be done. At least for this surgeon (and after the surgery, I have to say Aranow is SMART!), you have to be approved by his dietician, one of his psychiatrist and, naturally, your own insurance company. And yeah you start with the insurance company. Then we got to go to the dietician....oh...yay....not. Hate her, she is annoying, with her, this is ALL you should be eating, your portion of meat should be NO bigger than a deck of cards,etc. And she informed us Dr.Aranow insists that ALL his patients lose 10 pounds before he does the actual surgery. Okay that scared me immediately...I couldn't lose weight on my own, that was the whole point! And then she hands us these food logs...we have to keep account of everything we eat for a month, and bring it back and discuss it with her...and get approved by her.

So I admit it, we both cheated our logs out, who writes everything down?! So she approved us both...well good in a yay-ish way. But I was most scared by the psychiatrist approval. I have had psychiatrists and therapists (maybe I will blog about it someday) and they have ALL let me down or betrayed me. And I am really serious, when someone asks you to be honest...have you EVER thought of suicide (if you have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety or anything along these lines you HAVE had thoughts...even serious ones), and yeah it has been in my head, so I told the truth like I thought I was supposed to and they tried to have me committed for 72 hours. The only reason they didn't is we had my therapist call them, and she knew my thoughts and was pretty angry that this had happened to me (the only time she did any good). So yeah, I was scared to go through any of this crap again. So we both go, one person, then the other and we have this 600+ question test we have to take. And of course, we had to TALK to Wirth-less...okay I tend to nickname my therapists/psychiatrists, there was Dr. Chihuahua, Dawn was Yawn (I didn't even have to talk to her...I liked that actually),etc. Me...I was not approved. My tests showed my depression, anxiety, and OCD were way over an "acceptable" level, that was the day I wad diagnosed with OCD and Social Anxiety Disorder actually. So I was not going to be approved until SHE felt I was "ready", so that meant weekly appointments with her. Finally, after a few months, I was improved in September.

On Novemeber 18th, Mom drove me to the hospital at 6 am for my surgery. I was so scared....