My Official "Before" Pics

You know you want to see my "before" pictures! So here they are:

September 2010-approx 4 1/2 months before surgery.

Approx 280 lbs.

This is at my husband's 15 year class reunion.

December 2010-Approx. 6 weeks prior to surgery.
Approx 285 lbs.

Appointments, appointments, more appointments. First I had to fill out my health history using the bariatric center's online tool. Then I met with the surgeon, got weighed, measured, etc, etc. Next, sleep study. I tried to upload a pic from that, but it wasn't working. Basically I slept at the sleep lab with all kinds of wires hanging off of me. The verdict: I do not have sleep apnea! Yay!! I had to have alot of blood drawn, have an abdominal ultrasound and have a psych eval. My blood work came back ok-high sugar, of course. My abdominal ultrasound showed that I have a fatty liver. Huh. So the doc says he wants me to lose 15 lbs or so before surgery to shrink the liver so he can see to operate laproscopically. I was like, um...isn't that why I am here? I can't lose weight!! I guess I will try. lol :) Here are some pics from some of my appointments:

Next step, preop class at the bariatric center. Guess what? They told me how the surgery would be performed again!! lol! I had read my handbook beforehand so I knew alot of what they would tell me, but it was still good to hear again. Not looking forward to that liquid diet (haha) but I got some good ideas and know more what to expect.

After the class I had a couple of hours to kill before my Preop Admissions Testing at the hospital so I went to Costco, Burger King (haha), and Wal-Mart. I also got a sonic blast. Hehe. At Pre-Admissions Testing I had to answer lots of questions, pee in a cup, have blood drawn, have my oxygen and CO2 levels tested, have an ekg, and sign papers. Everything went well. I also got info on a living will which I need to look at and fill out.

So I am 16 days away from surgery and getting very anxious...I have been reading blogs online and it is kinda scary, but I still want to do it...I think. lol Before pics coming soon...

First Steps

Ok, so the first thing I had to do was attend the "informational seminar." Actually I had already attended two of these. The first was about 18-24 months previously with a good friend, then I chickened out and decided not to have the surgery right then. My friend had the surgery. The next was in August 2010 at a hospital that only offers the Lapband. I just don't think the lapband is for me so I went to another hospital that offers lapband, gastric bypass, and gastric sleeve. I attended the informational seminar September 2010 and heard everything I had heard before. Lol. I decided to move forward. My mom actually had gbp in 2005. My mom lost 100 lbs and has kept it off and also had plastics so she looks good. My good friend who I mentioned above had gpb in April 2009. She had complications and was really sick for a couple of months, but has lost 115 and is doing very well now. She says even after the problems she would do it again. So, I am going to do it. I know it will be hard, maybe even hell. I know at some point I will wish like anything that I hadn't done it. But I hope it will be worth it. Why do I want to do it? I want to have less joint pain, less headaches, less back pain. I want to have more energy. I want to look better and have more confidence. I don't want my kids' friends to whisper that I am fat when I go into the school to volunteer. I want my husband to think I am sexy-he says he already does, but I want to FEEL sexy. I want to walk and not be weary. I want to run and not faint.

Let's Get this Party Started!!

I have decided to join the masses and try to blog about my gastric bypass experience. My surgery is scheduled for Feb 3rd. Before I have the surgery I would like to blog about everything I did to get ready: appointments, tests, etc. I will get started tomorrow! WARNING: I will hold nothing back and will post some pictures so don't read if you don't want to know! Haha. :)