Saturday, April 12, 2008

Pass the Rocky Road

Well...

I have completed the first step on the bariatric surgery journey, which is attending the informational seminar given by the doctors. Talk about a fat fest!! And hey, I'm fat, so I can say all this.

After sitting in a room with these people for 2 1/2 hours, and I'm talking about fat people here, I feel pretty good about myself. I walked from the parking garage to the conference room with a lady that probably weighed 500 pounds. She asked me if I ever got out of breath, and I actually felt bad telling her no (which is the truth...).

We learned all about the different surgeries available. In fact, I would be a candidate for the LapBand surgery, which made me feel better. People asked endless inane questions, including the woman sitting just a few seats to my left, who asked if you can have the LapBand if you've already had the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass... and she asked this WHILE SHE WAS EATING A BAG OF POTATO CHIPS!! No joke.

I have a one-on-one appointment with the surgeon at the end of this month, which is my chance to really drill him with the questions I have. I also, to meet my insurance company requirements, have to have a psychological evaluation (yeah, I'm screwed there) and be on a physician-supervised diet for 6 months... in other words, this won't be happening anytime soon.

On an odd note, my mother-in-law is VERY excited that I'm pursuing this, so much so that she wanted to just hug me with joy when we dropped the boy off over there yesterday. One of her comments was, "You'll be fighting off the guys with a stick once you lose all this weight!!" Irritating enough because, let me reiterate, I'M NOT DOING THIS TO LOOK BETTER, but she's apparently forgotten the fact that I'm married to her husband's younger son.

Weird.

7 comments:

Lori said...

I wouldn't worry too much about the psychological exam - you're no crazier than any of the rest of us that came out of Cafaro's art room, and constantly fighting something like your weight is a contributing factor to depression.

Going ahead slowly is probably a good thing - I would imagine that it weeds out the people who aren't really ready for it or aren't very serious about it. You'll also be able to tell yourself and everyone else who questions it, once and for all, that yes, you did try everything you could to avoid a surgical solution.

Whether the dr. supervised diet actually works, or you end up getting the surgery, either way, you win. Just think of the Christmas gift you could give yourself and your family, though - a new start to better health!

Your husband's step-mother - she's not quite the brightest crayon in the box, is she?

T. Paulina said...

I couldn't have said it better than Lori... You do this for your... your health and your child... and about the mil not being the brightest crayon... dang lori... type a warning before you say something like that... i spewed water all over my computer screen!!!!

Lori said...

Now you see why Ruth has put up with me for 25 years. I usually have a bunch of boring drivel to share, but occasionally, I come up with a gem.

I'll try to issue spew alerts in the future. :o)

Ruth said...

25 years?

Ick... now I feel really old.

Lori said...

Consider that we were just barely into the double digit ages when we met - not even teenagers. That doesn't make us old, just well seasoned and spicy... yeah, , spicy. :o)

T. Paulina said...

garlic spicy... or jalapeno spicy... LOL

Crunchy said...

ROFL! I think we defnitely see the effects of Cafaro's class here. Too scary how far reaching that old pirate is.

I'm really excited for you on this.