“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise” - Oscar Wilde

Day 113

What a wonderful visit I had with my new surgeon this morning! She was even better than I remembered!! The epitome of quiet strength, an excellent communicator and highly empathic. Perhaps this insurance fiasco has been a blessing in disguise. Although I'm not sold on their program all the way, I am 150% sold on her, and in reality she is the single most important member of the team, right?

We had a great discussion. Their statistics have improved. Here are the numbers for post-op complications:

• Leakage: <1%>
• Blood clots: <1%>
• Death: <1/500>
• Major complications: 3-6% vs. 10%
• Gallstones: 2-3% vs. 30% (she'll put me on medication for 6 months to try to prevent)

They've had 2% of their patients develop ulcers and less than 1% have blockages -- and she noted the blockages can be fixed laparoscopically.

As for my girth -- no worries. She said if I were male she'd feel differently, but my stomach is soft and I've lost more than enough weight so far to have her feel confident about this. She's also confident that we can do this all laparoscopically (although no guarantees of course). The last time she had to open someone up was several years ago and it was because her stomach was higher up than usual and she couldn't get the liver out of the way so had to partially open that patient up.

She also did a better job than the last surgeon evaluating me as an individual I think. She set the goal of getting me off of insulin, but said it's likely I'll be on oral meds forever because I've had the condition for so long. Same with blood pressure -- likely to always be on meds, but should be a lower dosage. Likely good bye to several others though. A nice dream!!

She also went on to say that there's a 97% chance that without the procedure I would be unable to sustain the weight loss and that it has nothing to do with willpower but rather hormones. A person that's 20 pounds overweight has different chemistry than someone like me -- the fat wants to protect itself at my level and yet with the surgery the chemistry is changed such that the hormonal balance changes to somewhat closer to a normal person's. Still not the same, so don't expect to ever be svelte, but do expect to be able to maintain a loss of at least half of my excess body weight. Not too bad I'd say!! And if I can exercise on top of that I should be able to do even better than that.

The final assessment is that I'm ready. She sees no need for more testing -- she felt the other surgeon was very thorough. I do have to spend $200 and take those darn classes. Oh well. She sees no reason why I shouldn't "pass" the "council" vote on Friday after which they'll submit the paperwork to my insurance company and schedule this thing -- with any luck for some time in September. That will lead to one more class for all of the patients that will have surgery in the next two weeks to get us ready for the big day and the first month thereafter.

Time off work will be 4-6 weeks -- perhaps 3 if I feel strong enough and/or work part time and/or from home. This is because I have such a short commute -- any longer and she'd stick to a minimum of 4 weeks. She recommends the full 4, so if I can "stand" it -- you know me -- I actually like working! -- perhaps I'll actually take the full 4 off. We'll see. It's too soon to think about that now.

John and I attended their support group last night. It was great to see so many post-op patients there! There were only a couple of pre-ops so we were able to ask lots of questions. One I asked was whether anyone had any ah-hahs after the procedure -- things they hadn't known or thought of but wished they had. Some interesting answers. One suggested not buying baby food -- it was awful. Puree my own. Good excuse for a new Vita Mixer! :) Another said don't do it the week before Thanksgiving -- the smells were awful for her. Another said she wasn't prepared for the emotional response she had when the reality that she'd never be eating the same set in. She got through it with the help of friends. I feel most fortunate knowing that I'll have all the help I'll need in you guys too!! Another said be ready to think differently about what you order in a restaurant -- not just the nutritional value, but the reheat value -- plan to eat that thing you order for 2 or 3 meals.

And the success stories were fun to hear too! One lady who was 3 months post op had just gotten back from Florida and not only did she fit in her airplane seat, but she didn't need a seat belt extender and she actually had 5" to spare on the regular seat belt! Another lady had just gotten back from a day at Disneyland where she went on all of the rides, fitting in her seat and having no problems securing the safety bars. Another more mature woman (one year post op) just rode on the Napa Wine train and was thrilled because she had no problem climbing in or out of the train. No wine, and she skipped the starches in her entree, but she ate her creme brulee. ;) One gentleman who was 5 years post op admitted he doesn't exercise "formally" but noted he's a lot more active overall than he was pre-op -- and he looked great. It was a good session overall -- and great having John's support there! :) 3 spouses attended which was nice.