Weight Loss Journey
I spent years looking into having weight loss surgery. There are a few different types of weight loss surgery but the major ones that are performed in the current age are gastric bypass or vertical sleeve gastrectomy. I went to a seminar at a hospital in the area and felt like the program was all about making them money. This program required a lot of appointments that were only able to be completed by their facilities. Not only was this not convenient but it did not make any sense to me that I could not get lab work or other appointments done at a facility that I felt comfortable with. I decided not to go with the surgery at the moment but continued to look into my options for surgery if that is something that I wanted to do later. I spent time watching people’s journey on YouTube and looking at different options in the area. With the COVID quarantine I decided that now was the best time to get serious about putting in the work to get the surgery. I looked at my options for surgeons in the area again. I decided to sign up for a seminar with a local hospital and see what their program was like. June was the webinar with the hospital’s bariatric surgeon. After attending the webinar I thought that the program was completely do-able and was not something that was just to put money in their pocket. Unlike the first hospital this hospital’s program allowed you to use facilities that you were comfortable with to have your preoperative testing completed. They also allowed you to communicate with the surgeon through an online web portal. With this web portal you can also keep track of your appointments that are with the facility and see your test results when they are posted. I decided to go for it and start the process to get weight loss surgery. I called and scheduled an appointment with the surgeon and see what they have to say. I had a telehealth visit with the surgeon and got nothing but good news from her. She was so positive and told me that I was a perfect candidate for the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). That made me so happy to be able to start a new life. I started the process of going through all the preoperative appointments. I was able to get everything completed in 3 months and follow up with the surgeon to see what she had to say about all my test results. I met with the surgeon the day before Thanksgiving and she was very pleased with all my test results. I was just as happy that everything looks good and that there was nothing stopping me from getting my new life. At this appointment she told me that she could do the surgery as early as December 11th. Yes please!!! Let's s get this done!!! This was one of the best days I have had in a long time. Preoperative diet started the day after Thanksgiving which meant high protein low carb and eating 4 times a day. This was going to be a big change in the way that I was eating. Now was the time to get used to my new life.
