HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Today is a day that is centered around food, which for people with food and weight issues like me can be scary. I am already thinking that this is the last Thanksgiving that food will be an issue for me, and it makes me happy and sad at the same time... Though I like the idea that my future Thanksgivings will be more about the people that I get to spend time with than the food we will eat. Pumpkin pie will ALWAYS be part of the equation though - even if it has to be a tiny sliver in the future!
I was going to do a post today about how the lap band works and my experience actually choosing to go with lap band, but since it's Thanksgiving, I didn't want to bombard you all with pictures of stomachs and stuff. You can thank me later!
Instead, I will tell you about my experience with the doctor that I choose. I don't think anyone will lose their appetite over this one. I'll save the gross stuff for tomorrow when no one wants to eat anyway.
I found my doctor after extensive research and Google searches. I mean it's not like you can just go out and ask your friends who they recommend for bariatric surgery. How many people do you know that could give you a recommendation on that one? So it was the to the internet I went...
Surprisingly there are a good amount of surgeons who perform bariatric surgery in the Salt Lake area...of course that made it much more difficult. I started Googling the doctors and checking out websites and I found one that wasn't just an advertisement for the doctor, but was educational about the procedure as well. I read everything on the site about the lap band (stuff that I'll get to in another post because it's pretty gross), and then made that call.
That was a hard call to make. It was kind of like the first time buying clothes at Lane Bryant, I had to admit to myself that this was something I had to do because of my weight.
I didn't even know where to start when they answered the phone. I was sure that there would be more involved than just saying, "Hi. I want lap band surgery, when can you do that for me?" - I was right.
The first thing that I had to do was attend a seminar on a Thursday night. This was a meeting with the nurse, the doctor and anyone else who was thinking about having the surgery. At first I was a little disappointed because I had finally gotten up the nerve to do this and this was one step I hadn't anticipated.
As it turns out, this was a really interesting and informative part of the process. The seminar was run by the surgeon and his nurse. In the meeting there were only three of us there to find out about the procedure, so it was easy to ask questions or voice concerns. I learned that I wouldn't ever be able to drink soda or alcohol again. I also wouldn't be able to eat white bread - which is probably the biggest thing for me...but we'll get to that later. The doctor talked about HIS statistics - how many complications he'd had in 10 years of doing this surgery, the average weight loss of his patients, and how he did the surgery. I was impressed with what I learned.
The thing that I liked the most about his practice, however was the fact that his entire office staff had had the procedure themselves. It wasn't like a big commercial for the doctor, though. Most had had the lap band BEFORE even working for him, with different surgeons. I like that if I have a question about something, I can ask someone who has had it done. I was sold...
I left there knowing I was ready to do this. I wanted to find that person I knew I was inside. Now the next step was INSURANCE! (Because I really didn't want to fork out $11,000 of my own money) - but that's another story!
I have a hard enough time imagining choosing someone to do LASIK... glad you found a good doctor for something so important. Always a good sign when patient education is a priority.
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