Getting Started
notOK, so I decided to get serious about the surgery. My friend "C" had recommended the website: www.obesityhelp.com, which i had checked out before, but this time I registered and started looking for a doctor. I found one in Gainesville that had tons of great referrals and was covered by my insurance, Dr. Dan Proctor. I called his office to find out what I needed to do to get started. The woman who is the liason for their weight loss surgery program informed me I would need to attend a group informational meeting first. So I signed up for a time and waited. While waiting I checked out every "personal story" book on WLS that I could find.
I know a lot of people are really impressed with Carnie Wilson (from the group Wilson-Phillips, and The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson's daughter), but personally I found her book not to my taste at all. I thought she was whiny and willing to blame everyone else for every problem she had - but of course she cussed like a sailor (pardon to all the non-cussing sailors!), and that tends to turn me off anyway. So I may just be biased. A lot of people are very inspired by her. The book I found more helpful was by Susan Maria Leach called Before and After: Living and Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery. She is a very down to earth writer, very humorous, adn just tells it like it is. She also has a recipe book out, and everything sounded wonderful! The few things I tried from her book were great. Gastric Bypass Surgery: Everything You Need to Know to Make an Informed Decision is a more clinical book, but has great info about the different types of surgery and is really good for getting started (I suggest checking this one out of the library and buying Ms. Leach's book!)
Anyway, the time for the meeting came. I went to the hospital conference room where it was being held and was actually a little shocked to find myself one of the smaller persons in the room (not a typical occurrence!) Most of the info I already knew. I was impressed with some of the ideas he had though. What really got to me was when he mentioned something about not fitting into the rides on Six Flags! It was like he read my mind. He talked to us for about 2 hours, showed us slides of how the procedure could be done, talked to us about nutrition, counseling, and follow-up. It was very informative. At the end of the meeting, if we still thought we could adhere to all of the programs stipulations, we could sign up for a more in-depth meeting. I signed up right away!