My First Consultation Went Well

I went for my consultation today and met with Dr. Graber and his office staff. It was very informative and they were very positive about the whole thing. The first member of the office staff that I met had actually had the surgery herself which made me feel a ton better. Its nice to see that an employee of the group had the surgery performed.

They explained the surgery and the steps that I needed to take prior to the surgery. The main one being don't gain any weight and wean myself off of Diet Coke. If it is between having a healthy life and starting a family and Diet Coke, I can definitely survive without the Diet Coke. They mentioned that I should cut down on my portion size and eat Lean Cuisine-Healthy Choice-Weight Watchers type meals for two meals a day and try not to snack between meals. By following this weight management plan and adding exercise I should be able to meet my insurance companies requirement of a physician monitored diet and exercise program for 3 months proximal to my surgery date. They have a woman on staff who will be able to help me get all the information together when they send forward the paperwork to get approval for the surgery.

I was told in 2-3 weeks that I would get a listing of appointments that I needed to attend prior to the surgery in the mail. I have to complete the appointments on the list prior to the surgery. It was mentioned that even though they set up a surgery date prior to having the insurance companies approval they very rarely, if ever, have to reschedule because they are still waiting on the insurance. When I get the list I just have to remember to double check that they are participating providers with my insurance company and call my PCPs office to ensure that I get the appropriate referrals.

I weighed 276.5 today at the office which is down from 282.5 at my appointment with my PCP in January. Dr. Graber said it is not unreasonable to have a goal weight of 130 pounds. WOW!!! I mean WOW!! That would be sooooo cool. I can't wait to look that good. My husband and I are going to go on a shopping spree when I hit 130 :)

My husband and I are going away for the weekend to visit his brother, but when we get back we're going to get the treadmill uncovered so that I can start walking every day inside while the weather is nasty. It was -8 when I got up this morning with wind chills between -30 and -40 degrees. It didn't warm up too much all day, matter of fact at 8:50pm it is 1 degree outside. I just turned on the heated mattress pad to warm up the bed so it isn't too cold :) I'm also looking forward to purchasing an elliptical machine for after the surgery. I'll have to start saving pennies now!!