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I am one week away from my surgery day, which is...
I am one week away from my surgery day, which is scheduled for 12-21-15.
My surgeon is Dr. Chad Carlton with the Nicholson Clinic.
I am having a VSG with a hernia repair so insurance will cover most of the surgery expense for the hernia repair and I'll pay the VSG part of it. My insurance does not pay for any weight loss surgery whatsoever. I was completely prepared to go to Mexico but I heard a co-worker had most of her sleeve surgery mostly paid for with a hernia repair and I thought that was awesome! I wasn't sure I had a hernia but I thought it could be a possibility.
After talking to her, I took her advice and called True Results. I am usually against using doctors that advertise on television, but I have 2 kids under the age of 3 and I just didn't have the time to research doctors like I normally would. I spent a ton of time researching the procedure itself, making sure it was safe and the right thing for me and I just got research fatigue! I will say that so far, True Results has been great. They coordinate everything.
I went for an endoscopy to check for a hernia and it was at Surgery Center of Richardson which is the same place I will be sleeved. Dr. Carlton did the endoscopy. That's pretty much why I picked him to do the surgery. One of the nurses that prepped me for the EDG told me that Dr. Carlton took out his gallbladder. That really stood out to me. Those nurses see the doctors at work day in and day out and I think that it says a lot about a doctor's ability when the people that work with them choose them to do their own surgeries. So that's how I picked my doctor! Very scientific, I know.
Now a little about myself. I'm 5'7" and my weight before beginning the pre-op diet was 227. That is also my highest weight. One week out I am 220.
I have a husband and a 1 year old and a 2 year old. I'm doing this for me, first and foremost, but my courage to go through with it comes from them. They deserve more. I have been married for over 10 years. I weighed 130 lbs on my wedding day. I've gained dang near 100 lbs since I got married. I'm so ashamed. My husband is so great and never says a word, but I know he misses the old me. I know I do! I want to do this for my babies too. I feel like I'm parenting from a recliner. I just sit there and my two year old plays at my feet. I want to be able to get on the floor with him and play. I don't want to inwardly groan when I have to get up and fetch a toy or a sippy cup. My kids deserve more than that. I want to travel with my family and show my children the world and right now I just don't have the energy.
I'm trying to stay away from the bad thoughts of what could go wrong and just think of how amazing it will be to be thin again. How it will feel to wake up and feel GOOD. How it will feel to see a stair case and not think twice about climbing it. How it will feel to not worry about being the fattest person in the room. How it will feel to just grab clothes out of the closet and get dressed and not agonize over how nothing fits right and nothing looks good. How good it will feel to go shopping anywhere I want! So I'm just thinking happy thoughts. I've made my decision and I just want to get on the other side of this surgery and START LOSING WEIGHT!
My surgeon is Dr. Chad Carlton with the Nicholson Clinic.
I am having a VSG with a hernia repair so insurance will cover most of the surgery expense for the hernia repair and I'll pay the VSG part of it. My insurance does not pay for any weight loss surgery whatsoever. I was completely prepared to go to Mexico but I heard a co-worker had most of her sleeve surgery mostly paid for with a hernia repair and I thought that was awesome! I wasn't sure I had a hernia but I thought it could be a possibility.
After talking to her, I took her advice and called True Results. I am usually against using doctors that advertise on television, but I have 2 kids under the age of 3 and I just didn't have the time to research doctors like I normally would. I spent a ton of time researching the procedure itself, making sure it was safe and the right thing for me and I just got research fatigue! I will say that so far, True Results has been great. They coordinate everything.
I went for an endoscopy to check for a hernia and it was at Surgery Center of Richardson which is the same place I will be sleeved. Dr. Carlton did the endoscopy. That's pretty much why I picked him to do the surgery. One of the nurses that prepped me for the EDG told me that Dr. Carlton took out his gallbladder. That really stood out to me. Those nurses see the doctors at work day in and day out and I think that it says a lot about a doctor's ability when the people that work with them choose them to do their own surgeries. So that's how I picked my doctor! Very scientific, I know.
Now a little about myself. I'm 5'7" and my weight before beginning the pre-op diet was 227. That is also my highest weight. One week out I am 220.
I have a husband and a 1 year old and a 2 year old. I'm doing this for me, first and foremost, but my courage to go through with it comes from them. They deserve more. I have been married for over 10 years. I weighed 130 lbs on my wedding day. I've gained dang near 100 lbs since I got married. I'm so ashamed. My husband is so great and never says a word, but I know he misses the old me. I know I do! I want to do this for my babies too. I feel like I'm parenting from a recliner. I just sit there and my two year old plays at my feet. I want to be able to get on the floor with him and play. I don't want to inwardly groan when I have to get up and fetch a toy or a sippy cup. My kids deserve more than that. I want to travel with my family and show my children the world and right now I just don't have the energy.
I'm trying to stay away from the bad thoughts of what could go wrong and just think of how amazing it will be to be thin again. How it will feel to wake up and feel GOOD. How it will feel to see a stair case and not think twice about climbing it. How it will feel to not worry about being the fattest person in the room. How it will feel to just grab clothes out of the closet and get dressed and not agonize over how nothing fits right and nothing looks good. How good it will feel to go shopping anywhere I want! So I'm just thinking happy thoughts. I've made my decision and I just want to get on the other side of this surgery and START LOSING WEIGHT!
Only 2 people know
Only 2 people know about my WLS, my husband and the co-worker who also recently had WLS. She's very open about her surgery with everyone but has agreed to keep my confidentiality. We'll see how that goes.
I am outgoing but I'm also a very private person. We didn't tell anyone I was pregnant until it was becoming obvious at 5 months. I just didn't want to jinx it. That's partly the case with my being secretive about my surgery, everyone has had a front row seat to my diet fails over the years. And I work with some pretty petty people who spend their spare time cruising FB to find things to make fun of people about. Ugg. If they knew about this, they wouldn't even have to log onto their computer to mock me. I just want to be left alone to go down this path in peace.
I am outgoing but I'm also a very private person. We didn't tell anyone I was pregnant until it was becoming obvious at 5 months. I just didn't want to jinx it. That's partly the case with my being secretive about my surgery, everyone has had a front row seat to my diet fails over the years. And I work with some pretty petty people who spend their spare time cruising FB to find things to make fun of people about. Ugg. If they knew about this, they wouldn't even have to log onto their computer to mock me. I just want to be left alone to go down this path in peace.
I'm so happy to be sleeved!
I'm so happy to be sleeved and I can finally put my energy towards recovering and reaching my goals!
I was told to be at the Baylor Sugery Center at noon yesterday. I was pretty bummed about having such a late start since I'd asked to go early. I was informed that they did the surgeries in order of complexity which makes sense but it was hard to not have any water for 12 hours. I really tried to hydrate with water and G2 the day before but I was still quite thirsty before surgery.
My longest wait was in the waiting area after I signed my life away and paid my $3900 that insurance didn't cover. I wasn't called back for about 45 minutes. Once I was back in the holding area and changed into a gown, things went fairly quick. After I got the IV in place my husband was allowed to come back with me and then I spoke to the anesthesiologist, nurse practitioner and the surgeon. They were all very nice and instilled lots of confidence in me. The whole system seemed like a well-oiled machine. WLS is all they do there and therefore everything was very efficient.
I really wasn't nervous at all which surprised me. I think I did all my fretting while I was researching this whole thing I was very resolved with my decision and confident this was the right thing for me to do. While I was saying bye to my husband the nurse put something in my IV that he said would make me feel like I had 2 shots of tequila. About 10 seconds later everything started swirling around me. The next thing I remember I was in recovery. I never remember seeing the OR, just the hallway.
I woke up to a decent amount of pain and nausea. I was able to verbalized that through the oxygen mask and they administered more pain meds and anti nausea. I would say that took my pain from an 8 to a 7 and barely affected my nausea. So I got round 2 of meds. Finally after round 3 my nausea was under control and my pain was about a 3. Very doable. I was so sleepy bu they wouldn't let me sleep. Instead, they had my up and walking. I was so tired I could barely hold my eyes open. I had 2 nurses holding me and I was pushing my IV stand. Instead of putting me back in bed I was taken to a small room with a recliner chair and they let me put my feet up but I couldn't recline back because I needed to sit upright for the gas. My husband arrived shortly and it was good to see him but he was asking me questions and I just didn't feel like talking yet. He understood.
The post op nurse filled about half a dozen small medicine cups and told me to start sipping. The cool water felt so good in my mouth and I really had no pain when I swallowed. I was in recovery about 4 or 5 hours. Sip, sip, sip. Walk, walk, walk. Doze, doze, doze. I think I got down about 10-12 little cups of water the whole time I was there. I was becoming less groggy as the hours went by, but I was still sleepy. Finally I got my discharge instructions and my husband went to get the car. I had another wave of nausea as I stood up to leave and the nurse gave my 2 pills to put under my tongue. Thankfully they are fast acting and I walked to the car with no problems. I dozed on the 45 minute drive home and was back in the house at 9 pm the same day as surgery. Home sweet home!
I was told to be at the Baylor Sugery Center at noon yesterday. I was pretty bummed about having such a late start since I'd asked to go early. I was informed that they did the surgeries in order of complexity which makes sense but it was hard to not have any water for 12 hours. I really tried to hydrate with water and G2 the day before but I was still quite thirsty before surgery.
My longest wait was in the waiting area after I signed my life away and paid my $3900 that insurance didn't cover. I wasn't called back for about 45 minutes. Once I was back in the holding area and changed into a gown, things went fairly quick. After I got the IV in place my husband was allowed to come back with me and then I spoke to the anesthesiologist, nurse practitioner and the surgeon. They were all very nice and instilled lots of confidence in me. The whole system seemed like a well-oiled machine. WLS is all they do there and therefore everything was very efficient.
I really wasn't nervous at all which surprised me. I think I did all my fretting while I was researching this whole thing I was very resolved with my decision and confident this was the right thing for me to do. While I was saying bye to my husband the nurse put something in my IV that he said would make me feel like I had 2 shots of tequila. About 10 seconds later everything started swirling around me. The next thing I remember I was in recovery. I never remember seeing the OR, just the hallway.
I woke up to a decent amount of pain and nausea. I was able to verbalized that through the oxygen mask and they administered more pain meds and anti nausea. I would say that took my pain from an 8 to a 7 and barely affected my nausea. So I got round 2 of meds. Finally after round 3 my nausea was under control and my pain was about a 3. Very doable. I was so sleepy bu they wouldn't let me sleep. Instead, they had my up and walking. I was so tired I could barely hold my eyes open. I had 2 nurses holding me and I was pushing my IV stand. Instead of putting me back in bed I was taken to a small room with a recliner chair and they let me put my feet up but I couldn't recline back because I needed to sit upright for the gas. My husband arrived shortly and it was good to see him but he was asking me questions and I just didn't feel like talking yet. He understood.
The post op nurse filled about half a dozen small medicine cups and told me to start sipping. The cool water felt so good in my mouth and I really had no pain when I swallowed. I was in recovery about 4 or 5 hours. Sip, sip, sip. Walk, walk, walk. Doze, doze, doze. I think I got down about 10-12 little cups of water the whole time I was there. I was becoming less groggy as the hours went by, but I was still sleepy. Finally I got my discharge instructions and my husband went to get the car. I had another wave of nausea as I stood up to leave and the nurse gave my 2 pills to put under my tongue. Thankfully they are fast acting and I walked to the car with no problems. I dozed on the 45 minute drive home and was back in the house at 9 pm the same day as surgery. Home sweet home!
Provider Review
Dr. Chad Carlton, The Nicholson Clinic