By now, you’ve probably read all about how I decided to pursue bariatric surgery, and WHY I chose it. Today, I am continuing to walk everyone through the checklist of things I have to complete prior to booking my surgery. It’s a very long process (typically 3 – 6 months) with many, many medical visits between the time you start the process and the actual surgery. I’ve completed all of the items you see checked off below so far, with several more to go!
The last time I updated you on my checklist was back in February when I completed my nutrition seminar! Shortly after that, the world went crazy with a flippin’ pandemic, so my process has been slowed down a bit. I have made some progress though. Since that time, I have completed and checked off my psychological evaluation, and am currently working on the sleep study and nutrition visits. These are the bolded items that I’m going to be talking about today.
Psych Evaluation
I had my psych evaluation over the phone on March 31st. This was changed from an in-office appointment due to the pandemic. This was relatively easy. I had to fill out a boatload of paperwork in advance, and spoke with the counselor for about 30 minutes. We just talked about my eating habits, coping mechanisms, etc. She told me at the end that she was clearing me… YAY! I was a little worried about this since I do suffer from depression, but she said I didn’t appear to have a binge eating disorder and should do well with surgery. I’ve long said that my weight issues are mostly due to the fact that I eat junk and am a sugar addict. Yes, I do overeat too, but I wouldn’t call myself a binge eater, so I definitely agreed with her there. She sent me a couple of book recommendations, and that was that. It was a major relief to cross this off my list.
Nutrition Visits
My nutrition visits are still in progress. I’ve had 3 visits with my dietician, Sandra, so far. These were also changed from in person visits to “telemedicine” visits, which I much prefer over having to drive to the hospital and deal with parking.
My first visit was on March 17th over the phone. I’d been doing pretty well with my food logging on the Baritastic app from the time of my February nutrition seminar to this point. However, it was the start of the pandemic and would soon go downhill.
I had my second visit over the phone on April 22nd, and had been struggling a lot by this point. I had only recorded in my food diary for a few days during the last month. I told Sandra that I had been struggling with stress eating, due to being at home all the time because of the pandemic. She told me to get back on track with my logging.
I had my third visit via Zoom on May 21st. I fessed up that I had gained weight during the pandemic, and Sandra came down on me quite harshly. She told me that I needed to lose what I had gained, and that I needed to start eating more vegetables and proteins, or I would not be a good candidate for the surgery. She asked me what I would do in the next month to get back on track. I told her I would log in the app consistently and plan ahead more. This was also the week I went back to work, which I told her was actually a good thing in terms of my eating. I eat better when I’m in my routine and at work. She scared me and upset me. While I understand the tough love, I also expected more compassion. Nevertheless, it was a kick in the pants. I’ve now been batch cooking, packing food ahead of time for work, and am eating more veggies.
My next nutrition visit is scheduled for June 18th. Hopefully I will have some weight loss to report, and she will see that I’m back on track and working hard. I’ve been logging consistently, eating more veggies, eggs, and chicken, and have cut back big time on my sugar. I’m planning and packing ahead with my food, and am feeling more positive overall. She will clear me when she feels that I’m ready, so I’m hoping to be cleared in June or July, maybe? We’ll see. She’s the person that can hold me back from my consult with the surgeon, so the gatekeeper essentially. Sigh.
Sleep Study
This is, annoyingly, still in progress due to the pandemic. It all started when I had my first appointment at the sleep center on February 21st. They sent me home with an at-home test kit to do that weekend. I hooked myself up to all the machinery that night, and slept like crap. I dropped the kit back off on Monday, only to have them call and say my results were inconclusive and I would need to do an in-office study instead. Well, that got sent to my insurance and finally approved, so I was scheduled to go in for an overnight in March. That was canceled due to the pandemic, and they are STILL closed to in-office overnight visits. This is all just a waiting game now because I’m not sure when they’ll open back up. Hopefully soon. I have a feeling I may have sleep apnea, which is what they’re testing for. Though I don’t snore, I sleep very poorly and am always tired. Guess we’ll find out soon(ish) enough… at some point, when they re-open.
Current Status
If things had stayed as planned and on track, my checklist would have been finished in April, but alas, it was not to be.
I also had my ultrasound scheduled for March, but that was canceled too. I’ll probably try and re-schedule that sometime soon. Once I get that done, along with the sleep study and nutrition clearance, I will FINALLY meet with the surgeon and get a date. I originally predicted my surgery would be sometime between May and July, but it’s looking more like fall now probably, since everything has gotten pushed back with the ol’ Rona virus.
Though I struggled a hell of a lot during my two months at home, I finally feel confident that I’m getting back on the right path.
I’ll check in again soon with my progress, once things start moving along again!
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