My Weight Loss Surgery Journey - Houston, TX

Well, I had the sleeve 4/10/15. So far I have not had any complications and I have lost a little over 60lbs. I have not been very good about exercising, like I should being that I am now back in school and still working full time. I keep saying I am going to make time but always get sidetracked.

I only had some minor pain for about a week after surgery. It was mainly related to feeling extremely bloated after the procedure- I used the Gas-X strips and this helped quite a bit. I had nausea the evening of my procedure and have not had any since.

As far as my self-esteem: It's through the roof!! I feel soooo great emotionally. I am way more outgoing now. I look forward to leaving the house, which is a big change from before surgery when I dreaded having to be seen in public. I have bought sooo much beautiful clothes because I am no longer having to shop in the big people stores. I went from almost a size 18 to now being in a size 8. I do have flabby skin- which I already expected. I do want to try and tone it up and I am most definitely looking into a breast lift. First I want to lose what I have left to lose and then weigh out my options.

Well, I'll start off by saying that this has been a stressful past 3 weeks! I had my last weigh in on 12/10/14 as required by my insurance. I went to my PCP for surgical clearance on 12/2/14 like I was asked but my blood tests showed that I had an elevated white blood cell count. So.... my PCP said she could not clear me until that was resolved. At first I was very upset but my boyfriend kind of talked me down a bit. Well, I ended up coming down with a UTI. My doctor put me on strong antibiotics (which I'm currently on) and asked me to go in this upcoming week to repeat my labs. Now that that infection is taken care of I'm sure everything will be ok for me to be cleared.
Ok.... on to the second issue: Apparently my surgeon is in very very deep trouble as he was videotaped exchanging narcotic prescriptions for sexual favors..... Yes... CRAZY! I found out on the news yesterday believe it or not lol. I honestly looked up this surgeon before anything else and he had an excellent record. I was definitely shocked since all the reviews I read on him were great. So, luckily there is another doctor at the practice who will be able to take my case. I have since looked him up and it turns out he was my friend's surgeon and she really likes him.
Hopefully I will be able to have a surgery date by the end of next week.

On Tuesday the 2nd I went in to see my PCP for my surgical clearance. My insurance requires that my PCP check me out one last time and then make a recommendation for bariatric surgery. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my PCP's original reaction when she found out I was looking into bariatric surgery was not what I had expected. At my appointment it seemed that she was a little less reluctant. She ordered pre-op labs and an EKG given my history of hypertension and the fact that I'm on 3 BP meds. My EKG was normal (a little bradycardic- but I'm on a beta blocker so it wasn't surprising). According to my PCP once she gets my lab results back she'll be able to send off notice that I have been cleared.
As of now I have completed all of the requirements for my surgery (EGD, sleep study, nutritional consult, psychological evaluation and PCP clearance). My final with in its the 10th of December and then my paperwork will be sent off to my insurance for approval. Getting really excited and hoping that I get a positive response quickly. I want to start the new year as a better & improved me!