So for years I have talked about WLS and had previously even gone to seminars at both Duke and Wesley Long here in Greensboro but never really ended up making the move to do anything about it.
I remember that when I went to the presentation at Wesley Long that they took your weight as soon as walked in to register and I actually found that little post it note that was placed on the inside of the front cover of my folder back in 2008 (I think). At the time I was 458 pounds...not too far from what I weighed in on my initial consult with Dr. Heider back in March.
For some reason the staff and people I met at the other meetings just didn't click for me. I am the type of person to try a product or a service based on recommendations that I get from other people and in a neat kind of way that's how I came across Dr. Heider and the Center for Surgical Weight Loss at Lake Norman.
During 2011 I had two co-workers that had surgery with Dr. Heider. Over the course of a few months both of them ended up coming to me and talking to me about having WLS and what I had tried, etc. I will forever be grateful to both Ms. Betty B and Ms. Dorothy G for taking the time to share their experiences and trials with me in and convincing me to get started on becoming the me that I'm meant to be.
I have also been fortunate to have a PCP (primary care physician) who supports me in this endeavor. When I first started seeing Dr. MacKenzie and we finally had "that" discussion (you know...the one about my weight and what was I going to do about it) he mentioned to me that whenever I was ready to go down this path that he would be behind me 150%.
That being said when I had my first appointment this year in January with him I told him that I had already signed up to go to the informational meeting that was being held in February. Little did I know how quickly things would progress from there.
After attending that info session I set up an appointment that night to come in for a consult in March. I decided then to proceed with the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and did my first weigh in with Dr. H. WHOA! 450.5 pounds! (I should note that even he didn't believe that I weighed that much, I guess I wear my weight well? *shrug*).
From that appointment I came away with a few things:
I remember that when I went to the presentation at Wesley Long that they took your weight as soon as walked in to register and I actually found that little post it note that was placed on the inside of the front cover of my folder back in 2008 (I think). At the time I was 458 pounds...not too far from what I weighed in on my initial consult with Dr. Heider back in March.
For some reason the staff and people I met at the other meetings just didn't click for me. I am the type of person to try a product or a service based on recommendations that I get from other people and in a neat kind of way that's how I came across Dr. Heider and the Center for Surgical Weight Loss at Lake Norman.
During 2011 I had two co-workers that had surgery with Dr. Heider. Over the course of a few months both of them ended up coming to me and talking to me about having WLS and what I had tried, etc. I will forever be grateful to both Ms. Betty B and Ms. Dorothy G for taking the time to share their experiences and trials with me in and convincing me to get started on becoming the me that I'm meant to be.
I have also been fortunate to have a PCP (primary care physician) who supports me in this endeavor. When I first started seeing Dr. MacKenzie and we finally had "that" discussion (you know...the one about my weight and what was I going to do about it) he mentioned to me that whenever I was ready to go down this path that he would be behind me 150%.
That being said when I had my first appointment this year in January with him I told him that I had already signed up to go to the informational meeting that was being held in February. Little did I know how quickly things would progress from there.
After attending that info session I set up an appointment that night to come in for a consult in March. I decided then to proceed with the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and did my first weigh in with Dr. H. WHOA! 450.5 pounds! (I should note that even he didn't believe that I weighed that much, I guess I wear my weight well? *shrug*).
From that appointment I came away with a few things:
Surgery can happen in little as 6 weeks - it all depends on what my insurance requires (they required NO supervised diet but with the whole weight thing I did have to send them pictures of me over the last few years...more on that later)
I was going to HAVE to get my BMI down - he recommended doing 6 weeks of OPTIFAST (more on that later)
I was FINALLY going to get control of this weight that has ruled my life for the last 29 years and, God willing, before my 30th birthday I was going to do something about getting it going in the other direction.
So since then I have been in the "pre-operative" stage. I have been dieting (and experiencing my first STALL...DAMN YOU SCALE YOU WILL MOVE PAST 416!!!), and praying, and thinking, and preparing, and reading (OH is really a great resource), and talking, and walking, and moving, and planning, and trying to just get my life in order.
Between taking care of Mom, myself, and working I have a lot on my plate but I am determined that this is one item that I am definitely going to cross off my list before I am 30.
That's all for tonight...my wrist is tired and I need to get to bed...got an early am appointment with the trainer at the gym *wink wink*
Peace, love, and VSG :o)
I was going to HAVE to get my BMI down - he recommended doing 6 weeks of OPTIFAST (more on that later)
I was FINALLY going to get control of this weight that has ruled my life for the last 29 years and, God willing, before my 30th birthday I was going to do something about getting it going in the other direction.
So since then I have been in the "pre-operative" stage. I have been dieting (and experiencing my first STALL...DAMN YOU SCALE YOU WILL MOVE PAST 416!!!), and praying, and thinking, and preparing, and reading (OH is really a great resource), and talking, and walking, and moving, and planning, and trying to just get my life in order.
Between taking care of Mom, myself, and working I have a lot on my plate but I am determined that this is one item that I am definitely going to cross off my list before I am 30.
That's all for tonight...my wrist is tired and I need to get to bed...got an early am appointment with the trainer at the gym *wink wink*
Peace, love, and VSG :o)
