Whew, whew....this is finally real, we have a surgery date. September 24, 2008 at 10:40AM.
Chris had an appointment at 9:00 this morning with the Pre-Op dietitian, Emily. She was cool. She went over the pre-op diet...which is pretty simple. A protein shake for breakfast, a protein shake for lunch and a sensible meal for dinner...and yes, she outlined what is sensible. And it is. She actually had some great ideas for flavoring the protein shakes...sugar free - fat free jello pudding mix. Just mix whatever flavor you want into a vanilla protein mix (made with water). It will not only flavor it but will also give it more of a texture like a milkshake. Drinking that many protein shakes over the next few weeks...and likely in part for a long time...we will be experimenting for sure. There are strict guidelines for the nutritional guide on the protein mix so we will be visiting GNC this weekend. If I calculate correctly, we can start the pre-op diet this coming Monday and that will give him/us 5 1/2 weeks on the pre-op diet. Emily said it is ideal for 3-6 weeks so that should work out just right.
From Emily's office we were ushered over to the business office where we forked over all of our money! Seemed really strange writing that large of a check!!! But I feel SO blessed that we were able to come up with that money relatively easily and did not drain our savings. Chris signed the contract which confirmed everything included in the monies that we paid. They have been telling us that with the Lap Band he will in all likely hood go home that same day...day surgery if you will. I noticed that the contract indicated that the monies included up to 23 hours at the hospital. When I questioned that, they indicated that you are kept for observation for up to 23 hours...but you are not admitted to the hospital. Wonder where they stick you for that long?!?!? I'll have to remember to bring a book and some magazines for Chris. And lots of antibacterial gel....hospital germs...
Getting the surgery date was next. The girl that usually does that was on vacation. We originally thought we were going to get September 3rd as the date but she started mumbling something about the regular girl has been trying to reschedule the time for some surgeries that day, etc. Come to find out, that day was just about booked up. So...the next week the doctor is on vacation...the next week Chris had something that interfered and, we ended up with September 24th. Yay! :)
We will be contacted at some point concerning a class that we need to attend...well HAVE to attend. They will review in great detail the Stages of food consumption for post-op. The paperwork that they gave us today has all of the information in it but they require that you meet with the dietitian (Emily again). We will have the opportunity to meet other people, get their contact information, etc. Everyone there will be in the same boat as Chris...preparing for the Lap Band surgery.
I am going to try to "play along" to the absolute best of my ability. I asked Emily if she thought it would be okay for me to do that and she said absolutely. I do have an appt. with my doctor later this month so I will discuss it with her but I am sure it will be just fine. Hopefully I won't feel starved all the time!
So...we are on our way! Will post more as we get any new information! Thanks to everyone for all of your support!!!!
