doctors, doctors, doctors

Let me start by saying that the drive from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls (IF) is the most boring, ugliest drive ever. It isn't very long, only about 3 hours, but it is a whole lot of nothing the entire way! Once you get to IF, there are only two things I have found so far that make it slightly (but only very slightly) more awesome than Utah-alcohol is half the price-and you can buy it at the grocery store, and the multi-state Powerball Lottery, which I am convinced I am going to win. I need to fund this surgery somehow, right?

The reason for my drive? United Healthcare (my lovely insurance provider) requires all bariatric services to be done at a certified "Bariatric Center of Excellence." Surprisingly, there is not one in Utah, but there is one in Idaho. You may not know much about the two states, so you will just have to trust me when I say it is odd for Idaho to have something that Utah doesn't. I could have gone anywhere in the country. I thought about Florida and San Diego-the nice, warm beachy places that would be great for my recovery, but because of the follow-up required with the Lap Band, I decided to stick with the closest facility. For me, that is Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (known from this point forward as EIRMC). Their bariatric program is called New U, and they are a great group of people.

I am lucky enough to have a very good friend taking this journey with me. We work together, we are the same age, and at pretty similar points in our lives in all aspects. I couldn't ask for a more perfect person to take this journey with! We called last week to schedule our doctors visits and there was an opening for Wednesday, March 10th. We decided to leave the husbands and take the frigid trek as just the girls. We left Tuesday after work, had a nice night watching some TLC reality shows, and prepared for a long day of doctor visits.

The first stop was meeting the surgeon. He's a nice guy, I think he looks a little like Richard Dreyfuss. I could tell he had quite a few surgeries under his belt, and he answered all our questions about surgery day. I also got on a high-tech scale and got a print-out of my body composition (which I am saving for another post). It was definitely another eye-opening moment!

After the surgeon, we went to "Band Class," where we learned about all the pre and post-op care related to "owning" a Lap-Band. The nurse went over all the things to expect with surgery. I have been lucky enough to never have needed surgery in the past. Everything I thought I knew about surgery was definitely shoved in my face. I know all the risks involved with any surgery, but things just became very real for me at that point. Intubation, blood clots, nausea, morphine...am I really ready for all that? YES I AM!!

Next was the exercise physiologist. He was awesome! The best thing he said was that in his 20 years of working with people trying to get in shape, he had never seen anyone lose over 100 pounds until he started working at the New U clinic. Previous to that, he was one of "those" people that thought all everyone needed was diet and exercise alone. His testimonial that the program actually works better than anything else was very inspirational and exciting. I got the sense that he was as excited for us to start our new lives as we are!

The dietitian came in next to talk about all the things we are going to have to change with our eating habits. I think I am going to also save that for another post, for when I talk a bit more about the Lap Band in general. This post is getting quite lengthy. Let's just say...a LOT of adjustments will be made to my current diet. After the dietitian, we took advantage of our day off work, went shopping for a bit. The mall in IF is quite lacking, so we decided to stop for lunch and head home.

There was more fun to be had today, though! Part of my insurance requirement is a psychological evaluation, which included a 576 question personality test and a 1 hour evaluation. I don't know why a three hour evaluation is necessary, but I guess they want to be sure I am not completely psycho (which I am pretty certain I am not).

Now, I get to play the waiting game. Time to wait for my insurance to approve my surgery, and probably more waiting after that to come up with the funds I will need. I get more excited every day this becomes closer to being a reality. I have dreamed of being thin for such a long time. I can't believe it might actually be within my reach!

Well, here it goes...

It is so hard to decide where to start. I guess I should start by saying that I am FAT. I'm a fatty, and anyone that says otherwise is just being nice. It took me a while to accept the idea of being fat.

Here are the "slap in the face" moments that made me realize I would have to change:
1. My "fat" clothes started getting too small.
2. The purchase of my digital scale. I cried the day I got on and was forced to see that I was closer to 300 pounds than 200 pounds.
3. My last OB/GYN visit. I want to have kids, but I want to have a healthy pregnancy, and there is no way that can happen at my current weight. I could never put a helpless being into an environment beyond their control.

So, where do I go from here? On January 1st 2010, I changed my insurance after I discovered that bariatric surgery was covered under one of the other options offered by my employer. Prior to my decision, I did a lot of research on bariatric surgery, and always kept it in the back of my mind, should it ever be financially possible for me. Now that it is, I am running with it in full force! I don't have a surgery date set. I am still in preliminary reviews with the hospital and my insurance, but want to chronicle my journey as it happens. I will keep you updated through the highs and lows, and hope you will stick with me!