To Snore....or Not to Snore...

hen last we left off, I was preparing for my first support group meeting...the first of three I must attend.  It all went very well, actually better than I expected. Not only was the room full of people going through this just like me, but several attendees had already undergone their surgery and were still attending because they saw the value.  That was very encouraging, not only to see them, but to hear them share bits of advice and how things are going was also really helpful. By far, the best aspect of the whole night was turning around and seeing the doctor and his entire team sitting in the back of the room, attending...and sharing...right along with all of us. That was incredible, to know that they were making themselves THAT available for all of us.  They even joked and shared questions and info with the nutritionist (who was running the meeting) as we talked about ways we might alter traditional thanksgiving recipes to make them healthier. Overall, I was very pleased, and eager for the next meeting in December!

Right before Thanksgiving, I received in the mail the kit I needed to conduct my sleep study at home, to see whether I have sleep apnea or not ( I snore really bad).  This kit contained a watch-like device, a lead to mount to my chest directly under my throat, and a monitor to wear on my finger (like the thing they make you wear sometimes when they're taking your blood pressure).  I was supposed to sync all this with an app I had to download to my phone, put it all on, and then start the app right before I went to sleep so it could record all night.  This morning, when I woke up, I stopped the app, which automatically sent the recording to the sleep lab for analysis. They will send the results to my pulmonary doctor, who will go over them with me when I go in for my follow-up appointment with him.

The process turned out to be fairly easy, but it was not easy to sleep, knowing that all that was going on. The watch and the lead didn't bother me....I'm used to sleeping with my Garmin watch on, anyway.  But the monitor on my finger really irritated my finger to the point that it kept waking me up.  Not only that, but they want you to try to sleep at least half the night either on your side or your back.  I am a stomach sleeper, with a curvature in my spine. I can NOT sleep on my back unless I'm propped up to the nines. And sleeping on my side always culminates on me rolling to my stomach. Given all that, I'm not sure how much actual good info they might have managed to capture, as Keith says I slept like a rock and didn't snore all night like usual. Not sure how he knows that, because it seemed like I was awake half the night, listening to HIM snore....but I guess we'll find out how much...or how little...sleep I actually got when I go in for my appointment.

Next up...prepping for my colonoscopy and endoscopy on Friday!

A Brand New Chapter for Me!

he definition of insanity, as you have probably heard, is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.  I'm really tired of this merry-go-round I've been on for the past 50-ish years, and I'm ready to get off. Permanently.

So...after much, much thought and prayer, I've decided to get gastric sleeve surgery.

Fortunately, for me, my insurance is going to take care of the cost....as long as I jump through all their pre-qualification hoops. That means a 3 month bariatric program, during which time I will be seen by several specialists, all who have to clear me for the surgery, among other things.

For those of you who might be interested, here's MY personal rundown (your mileage may vary, depending on any ailments you may already be suffering from):

I started out with my primary care provider, who is awesome. During my most recent checkup, I talked to her about it and asked her what she thought. She told me she felt very strongly that, considering my history, this was a logical next step for me, and she then referred me to a bariatric doctor who was in my network, and who she also had worked with a good bit in the past. 

Let me stop here for a moment, and say that if you have never given anything the 'ole college try', this is NOT the place to start that journey. They want to know you have done everything humanly possible to lose weight and get healthy before they will even contemplate talking to you about going the surgical route. I have....and have documented a good deal of it here over the years, but this is most definitely NOT the sum total of my struggles, by any means. I tried many different diets and programs over the years, most of which happened way before this blog was ever thought about.

Disclaimer over (for the moment).  I did make an appointment to see the bariatric doctor, in whose office I  stayed for over two hours, going over all the fine points and details I would be subjected to over the next three-ish months.  Not only did I have to agree to do everything they asked, but if I either intentionally or by accident skipped any part of what they were asking, I would have to start the process all over again. Prior to my first appointment, they had emailed me a packet of paperwork the equivalent of War and Peace to fill out and bring with me. This paperwork included a VERY comprehensive background on everything I had ever done to lose weight....when it happened, for how long, how much weight I had lost, how much of that I had regained, etc.....all the way back to my childhood.

Not kidding.

Of course, it also included a lot of medical questions, etc...the usual for a doctor's office, just much more detailed. All that was gone over in that first appointment, along with all their expectations, and a lot more instructions and paperwork I would need to have filled out as I went along.

It was a lot. A really lot.  But...you gotta choose your hard, right? Right.

My first assignment was to buy a notebook that I could keep a very comprehensive daily journal in. In this journal, I have to note what I have for three meals and two snacks per day, what I drank with those meals, how much water I've had for the day, who I ate each meal with and where, how much exercise I got, what kind and for how long, how I felt before and after, and what I was thinking about.

Again....not kidding.  I also have charts I have to fill out for my exercise and my daily (yes, DAILY) weigh-ins.

My next assignment was to book appointments with all the specialists they wanted me to see and get clearance from for my surgery, so I spent the better part of a day getting all that done. Because one of my specialists was a gastric doctor to get an EGD done (endoscopy in which they check out your esophagus, stomach and duodenum), and I already had a colonoscopy scheduled, I was able to just add that procedure to the day's events and get both knocked out while I'm...er...knocked out. 

My first actual specialist appointment was for a psychological evaluation, which wound up being a Zoom call online, so I didn't have to take time away from work. We spoke about 30 minutes, during which she asked me a lot of questions, and sent me a link for a video to watch later. That one was fairly painless, so I was ready for the next one, which was with a pulmonary doctor. 

He had to make sure there was no issue that would make it hard for me to be anesthetized. During that appointment, he took X-rays of my lungs (which were clear and looked good), and set me up for a sleep study to determine whether I may have sleep apnea. If so, that would explain why I'm always exhausted. I do know that I snore a lot...so more to come on that.  I also found out that I have a curvature in my spine, which I had long suspected, since I have never been able to do sit-ups, and my collar bones are uneven (when they're visible, lol).  I will have a follow up with the pulmonary doctor once he has the results of my sleep lab back.

Yesterday, I had my first of three (one a month) appointments with a nutritionist and a physical therapist. Having never been to either, this was very interesting to me. During PT, I found out I am in much better physical health than most kids my age, which made me feel pretty good.  I think I can attribute that to the running I've done in the past, and I can't wait to get back there again....that's definitely my happy place.  

The nutritionist was also very interesting, and I found out that although I do know and do a LOT of what she shared, I also learned a lot, and had more questions than I thought.  I know that I'll be able to build on what I learned....I just hope I think of better questions for my next appointment!

So far, that's been my journey to this point, and all this started on Sept 20th, with my first visit to the bariatric doctor. I have to say, that out of all the stuff they've asked me to do so far, by far the hardest part of this was picking up the phone that first time. 

Next up will be my first support group meeting, which will be next week. I have to attend three of those as well, one each month. I'll be turning all my paperwork in for the month of October at that meeting, and my November logging is well underway.  So far, so good!

I'm very excited about this journey. I've had several people ask me if I'm nervous about it...and the answer would have to be no, not at all. I've done extensive homework on the procedure as well as the prep and life after.... I've talked to people who have been through it to learn best practices and what NOT to do....and I just feel more excited to do this every day! 

I hope you'll stick around and share this journey with me. And if you have any questions, fire away! If I don't know the answer, I'll definitely find out, and we can both learn something.