The process to get me to that point was not an easy one. I first had to have the ok from my primary care manager (PCM) and have them submit a referral (Hubby (Dan) is military and we have TriCare Prime). From there I set up an appointment with the bariatric clinic and we discuss surgery possibilities. I chose to have a full gastric bypass versus a sleeve or a lapband. From there it took over a year worth of tests, blood work, X-rays, EKG, endoscopy, ultrasounds, and more! This is major surgery and they want to make sure your body is up for it.
Going through all the steps is very time consuming and very stressful. I had many breakdowns along the way from dealing with Dr appointments or arguing with insurance companies. I'm sure there are people out there that had it much easier and I'm sure people had it worse. But, I will tell you that I literally cried tears of joy when my surgery was finally scheduled! I felt such an accomplishment of all I had done to get myself to that point.
My surgery took around 2 hours, after which Dr. Enochs came and told Dan how it went. I spent about 2 hours in a recovery room and then finally to my hospital room where Dan was finally able to see me. I don't remember most of this. The only pain I could sense when I finally came to was gas pains in my chest which is normal but painful. Burping helped a lot as did walking once I was able to a couple hours later. They do not waste time getting you up and walking! I will suggest bringing flip flops or easy to slip on shoes for this as you will not be able to bend down!
I will have another post soon(ish) so watch out for it and thank you for joining me on my journey!
