Part 2 - The chop shop: choosing a surgeon

Like I said before, my choice of a surgeon came through a referral from my primary care physician. But, I did have options, which included going to Louisville (Loo-a-vull, for you non-Kentuckians). In one of those quirks of fate, destiny, karma-karma-karma-karma-chameleon kind of things, I saw my PCP (of course I "say no to drugs" - this is my doctah dangit) for something totally non-related, and slid my question about weight loss surgery into the consultational conversational. It just so happened that he was meeting another doctor for lunch that day - a doctor who specialized in Lap-Band surgery. We decided that if Dr. S felt this surgeon would be a good "fit" for me, he would have his nurse call and give me the contact info. Well, that phone call came later that afternoon.

Now, I didn't get to meet the surgeon, Dr. K, right right away, which I admit made me a tad itty bitty bit nervous. What if I didn't like him? What if he was rude and mean and hurt my feelings and made me cry? What if he didn't like me? What if he looked at me and announced in a God-like voice, "Woman, get thy fat self away and nevermore darken my doorway with your presence." What if, what if, what if? While I understood the logic for not meeting the surgeon right away, it still gave me a case of the heebie jeebies.

Oh, yeah, the logic. Well, it seems that Lap-Band surgery has become pretty popular. The homecoming queen of the bariatric ball. The Angelina Jolie of Fat Films Production Company. This surgeon's office was being inundated with calls for people wanting more information. Dr. K would have been spending hours each day meeting potential new patients. It was best for his staff to handle the initial meetings, to ensure that a patient was dedicated to the procedure and would be compliant. After all, compliance to a diet and exercise program before surgery is more likely to lead to compliance to a diet and exercise program after surgery, thus increasing the potential for success.

Yup, it made sense to me too.

Unfortunately, I almost failed. My initial consult came right before my husband ended up being sent to help a customer on-site. Now, my hubby hardly ever travels these days, and this "six weeks at the most" assignment ended up lasting over five months. Luckily, I'm able to travel with him and got to spend some time visiting friends and family; however, it meant that I had to work appointments around trips home. It also meant that I wasn't cleaning house or helping to take care of grandbabies; instead, I was living a life of luxury in a hotel suite. So, I gained weight. Uh oh. Now that was a Bozo no-no. I was about to sabotage myself and my own goals, so I buckled down, cut my calorie intake down to about 800 per day (not recommended but definitely necessary) and spent two 15-minute intervals each day on the hotel treadmill. It paid off, netting me a 16-lb weight loss in the course of a month and putting me back on track.

Then finally, finally I met the surgeon. Miracle of miracles! Glory hally loo yah! Joy of joys! I liked the man! Yep. I felt comfortable wit him, with is straight-forward, tell-it-like-it-is-but-still-be-nice manner.

And then....and then...

.................................and then came the insurance company approval.

Now I'm two days preop. Getting nervous and excited at the same time. Hoo boy! It's gonna be a heckuva new year!