The Beginning
by
, 08-23-2013 at 03:42 PM (745 Views)
Today was my very first appointment with my bariatric surgeon's office. I had a physical with one of the Nurse Practitioners. I walked into the office, checked in, and gave the secretary all my necessary information. I had all the paperwork filled out prior to my appointment - she said, "Oh, I like you already." lol
The medical assistant took me back to the room, took my height, weight, blood pressure (Which was pretty high -ugh -- hopefully just a byproduct of nerves about the appointment!), and pulse, and then had me change into a gown and wait for the NP.
The Nurse Practitioner came in, she was very nice and personable. She went through my paperwork and medical history and reaffirmed my decision in getting the sleeve. She said that it would absolutely be the best choice for me in my long term goals. She said that part of the required three month pre-op program is diet and exercise on my own to lose 10-15 lbs before surgery. She recommended 1800 calories per day, with 80g of protein per day. She said a lot of their patients had success using the My Fitness Pal app, so I downloaded that instead of trying Weight Watchers again. I think keeping track of calories and grams of protein will be easier with the My Fitness Pal.
I inquired about a pre-op liquid diet, and she said that would be covered later in the program, but they don't require a full liquid diet pre-op, just enough to make the liver shrink right before surgery. I was a bit relieved at that, I have to say!
It was all over in less than 45 minutes and I left feeling better than ever about my choice to have the surgery. My next weigh-in is on the 5th, and my first group session is on the 4th. I'm hoping my parents will be able to attend, to help them better understand this decision. They say they support me no matter what, but they are still worried about me having major surgery, being out of work, etc., but I know. I KNOW. This is the best thing for me to do. I'm excited. I can't wait.