Home inspection

We had a walk through of our new condo with a home inspector on Friday. The inspector was really good, Inspections by Bob . We would recommend him to anybody in this area needing a home inspection. He found stuff we would have never even looked for. He found mud caked onto our furnace and a bag of something inside the furnace door. I would have never opened up the furnace.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's visit: Home Inspection Photos.

We also went to Value City Furniture just to see some sectionals. Our new living room is a really open room with walls on 2 sides only and one of the sides is where the flatscreen TV goes. So, we have to be creative in how we furnish it. We didn't find any sectionals that looked good but we found our bar stools. I had seen this collection, Latte Bar Set. but I didn't want the table. Yesterday, we realized we could buy the bar stools by themselves. So, we did :-).

We also picked up an entryway table. It's white with a samll table that has one drawer for a phone book. On the top is a hutch that has 12 little cubby holes for letters and knick knacks. It was the perfect size for our entryway. I'll take a picture of it next week when I pick it up.

October 30, 2007 7:30 a.m.

I have an appointment with destiny ... well with the GBMC to get prepped for surgery.

I had my dietary consult yesterday at the surgeon's office where we were gien a [retty comprehensive 10/12 page document detailing what we'll be eating and what we'll be avoiding the first month after the surgery.

Boils down to basically this:

1st 10 days: clear liquids, water, diluted juices and other drinks (sugar free), diluted brother, sugar free jello etc.

2nd 10 days: any food that can be blenderized. So, hmmm blenderized steak and mashed potatoes ... hehehe, no really, I can eat anythign as long as it can be reduced to the consistency of really thin mashed potatoes.

3rd 10 days: introduce solid food slowly. Cut into pieces the size of pencil erasers and chewed on forever, 6 1/2 cup meals a day.

After that, I can go back to 3 1 - cup meals a day with 2 1/2 cup snacks in between.

Some of you might say, if you did that now, you'd lose the weight without the surgery. Yes, I would. Except my body won't let me. If I tried this as a diet, my body would go into starvation mode, hoarde the fat, burn muscle and eventually crave food so badly that I would eat anything in sight.

12 days and counting ...

1, 2, 3 done

Have you ever had a day where everything just goes right, specially when a doctor's office, a diagnostics lab and an imaging place are involved?

I did, today. The surgeon's office had sent me a list of pre-op things that needed to get done before the 25th of this month and I was getting worried. So, I dropped in at my primary physician's, thinking maybe I could get his prescriptions for all the lab work and get it done next week.

I get there at 3:45 p.m. and sign in. The nurse calls me up in 5 minutes and immediately takes me back for my E.K.G. As I am leaving her office, I ask if I can sign in at the lab and she informs me that the doctor has to sign the slip first for the lab that closes in 3 minutes. But, after a couple minutes, she tells me to go to the lab anyways and that she'll bring the slip in.

At the lab door, I knock and even though the lady is technically done for the day, she takes the 3 tubes of blood they asked for.

I go in to see the doctor and there is no wait time. He checks my vitals, signs a prescription slip for a chest x-ray. I run out of there to the imaging place and sign in. Not even a minute after I am done registering, the technician comes out to take me to the back.

As I was leaving the lab, I checked my watch, and it was 4:45.

One hour to get:

- an E.K.G.
- blood work for 3 different labs
- doctor's visit for a general health and history check
- chest x-ray at a different location

Not bad at all!

Surgery: an update

After receiving numerous emails form family and friends, worried about the decision I have made, I have to update my post.

Your concern #1: Repurcussions of this surgery are very serious.
My reply:
Yes, they are. I won't be able to drink or eat certain foods for a few months after the surgery and I'll have to control my diet seriously after that. And, that's exactly why I made this decision.

Trust me, I have consulted with my primary physician and the surgeon made me attend numerous sessions with a councelor. This was not a decision made lightly after a bad night.

Your concern #2: There are so many risks involved.
My reply:
Yes, but the risks get compounded as you get older. I am at an optimal age right now for this procedure. I am young, my body can heal itself faster. The longer I wait, the longer Jeff and I put off the decision about having children. That creates it's own complications as you get older.

Your concern #3: Why can't you try alternate methods? Wire your jaw shut, exercise seriously and so on.
My reply:
I have. I have tried every method possible and it did not work. It is a more permanent change than wiring my jaw shut or sending myself off to fat camp somewhere. Whereas in other types of surgery like the gastric bypass and stomach stapling, you can make it possible to overeat and reverse the effects, in this surgery, your stomach is permanently reduced in size, as is the small intestine. That works in dual ways; you eat less and your body absorbs less.

Some of you might say, if the final result is to eat less, why not just do that?
Because, it's not possible to do what this surgery will let me do. When you normally starve your body, you sufer from hunger pangs. Eventually, your body hurts you enough that you start eating whatever you can lay your hands on. You know what I am talking about.

With the surgery, my body will be full after lesser food. No hunger pangs. Of course, I can binge eat; but instead of the possibility of a lapband slipping or staples opening and my stomach returning to it's original size, I will just make myself very, very sick.

Life altering decision

A few months back, Jeff and I made a decision together that'll have some major changes on our lives and lifestyle. We made the decision for me to get Bariatric Surgery. The procedure that I am going to have is called the Roux-Y procedure. You can read about it at this website, which is also the doctor who'll be performing my surgery.

After going through years of fighting weight gain and trying anythign and everything possible from simlpy excercising to being on a physician monitored diet and weight loss program involving prescription meds, I have tried it all. Remember Herbalife? I did that. See the Nutrisystem ads? I did that; ask Autumn, the food does not look as good in real life as it does on TV.

With everything I tried, I lost the fight after a couple of months and gained all the weight back. I got to a point where I felt really low and if I hadn't had Jeff in my life to support me and to push me through everything, I am not sure if I'd be a drunk right now or majorly depressed but I wouldn't be as optimistic about life as I am. And realizing that suddenly, I am letting this weight problem define who I am, affect how I see myself and really affect my appreciation of things I enjoy - dancing, amusement park rides, swimming in the ocean - I decided to take a radical step.

And it wasn't a step taken in a minute. I have spent the last year with a good friend who had the same procedure done by the same physician. I have spent the year elarning about all the treatments available and the side effects and possible repurcussions. I have spent the year debating the pros and cons of the surgery with Jeff. I understand the risks but to me, the risks of not getting it done right now and taking control of my life are higher.

Initially, the insurance denied our claim for the surgery because I couldn't prove that I had been obese for the last 5 years. Apparently, in the year 2003, I didn't make any major doctor visits. A healthy year overall. After 2 levels of appeals, I got a phone call today from Jeff's corporate benefits letting me know they were allowing an exception in my case.

So, now the whole World Wide Web knows and all I am waiting for is the surgery date. Wish me luck.