OMG, that was so fast, I am approved!

[taurabird 142]

This January I had a life changing moment after climbing only 2 flights of stairs at the hospital where I work, but before I explain what happened let me tell you what I do for a living and introduce myself to everyone officially. I am a female who is 5'8" and 39 years old and have been overweight since I was about 9 or 10. I am a critical care RN and I am on the rapid response team, that means that if a patient in the hospital has a major change in their condition I am called to the room to quickly assess the patient and treat the problem emergently in order to stabilize the patient while the doctor is called. It is basically like calling 911 in the hospital. So to get back to what happened, I was called to a room on the 4th floor but I was on the 2nd floor at the time so I took the stairs to save time. By the time I reached the 4th floor I was sweating, sucking air and dizzy, basically felt like I was going to pass out. As soon as I walked into the room I knew the patient was not breathing adequately on her own and she was not responding so I took over her breathing by using a bag/valve mask with oxygen to force air into her lungs while the respiratory therapist was preparing to place a breathing tube into her lungs. All of this is very demanding both physically and mentally. It was in that moment, trying to catch my own breath while giving her rescue breaths that I felt for the first time in my life that I had to make a huge change. Anyone that knows me understands that I would give my own life to help someone truly in trouble and here I was on the borderline of not being able to even help myself. To say that this really tore me up mentally is an understatement as I hope you can imagine. This was my moment of deep clarity, I saw my future and it included me as a morbidly obese patient being taken care of in a hospital because I couldn't take care of myself.

This has been such a whirlwind of an experience so far so let me describe the other events that led me to the decision to have wls. I always considered myself to be healthy and strong up until about 2 years ago when I first started having some shortness of breath with activity and pretty much staying tired all day. For the first time in my life I could see that I had started the slow decline of aging but I still did not see it as a weight related problem. Like most everyone else I have been on every diet known to man and would be somewhat "successful" but would always regain the weight within months. I would diet with the only goal being to "look" better. My highest weight was 275 pounds when I was 25 y.o. and

my lowest adult weight was 175 but that only lasted for a few months. My typical weight has hovered between 230-250 most of my adult life. I had considered bariatric surgery several years ago when I first heard about it but quickly dismissed the idea because I saw myself as healthy and the thought of long-term Vitamin deficiencies or malabsorption scared the hell out of me. I am an expert at losing weight but I can only maintain the correct eating pattern for a while before the nagging hunger gets the best of me and I fall off the wagon. Once that happens it is on like Donkey Kong, lol...I rapidly redevelop the all of my old cravings for sweets and carbs that have been with me for as long as I can remember and I lose control.

It was at the same time that I had the scary experience at work that my job announced on the intranet webpage for employees that they were implementing several different weight loss plans for everyone that wanted to participate. One was a 20 week medically supervised exercise program with a personal trainer session each week and at the bottom it listed bariatric surgery. I clicked through and read all of the options and was seriously thinking about starting the 20 week exercise program and becoming serious about eating healthy. I then clicked the link to read about the bariatric surgery thinking that I would just see what it had to say. I was immediately blown away when I read about the sleeve, it overcame all of the objections I had about wls. I could literally not read enough about it over the next week, I devoured every piece of information I could find. After that week I had made up my mind that I needed a sleeve so I could take charge of my health along with the medically supervised exercise program. So at that point I started down both paths; wls and exercise.

I attended the information session 2 weeks later on February 6th and had my first appointment with the surgeon, Dr Jawad, on February 8th. Today, March 25th, I received my official approval from my insurance to have the surgery! It only took a little over 6 weeks to go to all the doctor appts, get all the testing completed, submit everything to insurance and gain approval. The even more amazing part to me was that Health Choice approved my case in only 1 day!!!! The insurance approval was so fast that I am still waiting to hear the results of the manometry test to make sure that my stomach/esophagus does not have any pressure or motility issues that would make me a poor long-term candidate for the sleeve. So, of course, that is the only thing I can think of today, lol, I am so excited that I can't stand it! I am waiting on those results so I can be placed on the surgery schedule!!!! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.

Today is my 5th week on the exercise program. I have worked myself up to walking 4 miles, 3 times a week and doing yoga 30 minutes a day. I am able to do a mile in about 20 minutes and I have worked myself up to walking 4 flights of stairs before I am totally out of breath. My endurance is slowly improving but the important thing is that it is improving! I am so proud of myself for this new habit I am developing:)

Thanks for listening and I am so excited to be a part of this message board, I have learned so much over the last month from all of you. I really appreciate everyone that contributes to these great discussions!

[Katie713 423]

Good luck to you. You seem to be embarking on this journey for all the right reasons and you are young enough to be able to enjoy many more years to come of better health. It's just amazing how much better you will feel without all the excess weight. Hope your pre-op program continues to be a source of achievement for you, and this will help you immensely post-op.

[LINDANACK 15]

Hi, Welcome, good luck to you. It's nice having a nurse on board. Maybe you can answer some of the questions these people have, concerns they are facing. I learned something from you already I'm going to check on. I had surgery 3 months ago and had too many obstacles and ultimately, my diet is suffering. I need a new doctor and definitely , a new program that will aide me in this long journey. If I could just get down 13 lbs. I feel I wouldn't be viewed so harshly, but do you think I could do just that? I guess that's too much to ask. I really need exercise, but I can't get motivated. I hope this is not all there is! I believe my doctor held out on me and as a result, we've parted ways. I ntruly need a concerned benefactor to help me through this or I will be lost.

[Izuri 428]

All of us have that oh my gosh turning point that really opens our eyes. It's incredible how much of what is going on we just don't want to really be aware of up until that point. I think you're making a great choice for your health and when you are bounding up those stairs in a few months you will deserve every second of proudness from it. I am a nursing student and I can tell you that it made a huge difference in how well I can take care of my patients. I really feel more able to help with ADLs and ambulate and stuff.

Good luck =) I hope everything goes great.

[taurabird 142]

Katie- Thank you for your kind words.

Linda- I really appreciate you saying that I helped you already. I have started becoming more active and trying to answer medical questions that I have experience with.

Izuri- I am convinced that without that aha moment there is a lower overall chance at long-term success. Bounding is something I have not done in quite a while! I am looking forward to that victory when it happens. It is very good to hear that you feel you are a better nurse s/p sleeve.

[kcinpa 159]

Congrats on the approval, and good luck on your journey!!

[giggles232000 56]

Congrats, and good luck,

[taurabird 142]

Thank you guys!

[VickysVictory 24]

so happy I found this website ! I had my sleeve surgery on Thurs. (3/21/13) and really wanted to talk to some people who are on this journey. I am 49 but we are the same ht and start weight ...when I read your story it really hit home. I was always a big girl but healthy and active ...but then I faced realty that I had become unhealthy with assorted issues and exactly as you I just need this tool to get a large part of this weight off so I can truly be the active healthy woman I know is still in there. Good luck to you and to all of us!

[taurabird 142]

Vicky- That is exactly how I feel too! Congrats on being sleeved! How are you feeling?

This is a great support for me.

[VickysVictory 24]

I feel very good. In fact I'm surprised how well I feel on my 5th day. The worst part for me was I was soooo thirsty when I came out of recovery. But I was given a cup of ice w a little sponge on a stick...that was a big help. But my first sip of Water (the next morning) was heaven I still have trapped gas pain but walking is the best relief...its also hard to get all the 64oz of Fluid in the day but I'm close and I sip sip sip more each day. I have no hunger at all.

[FeeIsMe2 508]

Good Luck to you!

[taurabird 142]

Vicky- that is so good to hear!

[taurabird 142]

I am slightly aggravated at my MD office. They still havent read the manometry and they will not schedule the surgery until they get the results. Ughhh.

[taurabird 142]

52 days until surgery!