So where am I at in all this?

OK, so this post is going to be the one that gets me up to date, then I will post as things progress or as I feel necessary to document my story.

First off, I will list the players in this little real life drama.

First up is me:
I am 41, married for 20 years, have 3 kids (Gavin is 20, Tyler is 17 and my baby, Heidi is 15). I work at the Oregon State Penitentiary and have another blog that talks about my prison life called "Life on the Installment Plan".

Corvallis Samaritan Bariatric Program:
Let me preface this by saying that every one of these people are quality, caring and supportive people. I have enjoyed my interaction with each of them, and feel very comfortable with my choice to have the surgery here.

Dr. Read - He is the one that will do the surgery

Kim - She works the front office and is the one I talk to on the phone all the time.
Denise - Kim left and went to another job so now Denise works at the front office.

Susan - She is the patient coordinator and is also a Certified Medical Assistant.

Bobbie - She is the program manager and is also a Registered Nurse

Barb - She is the dietitian.

The Psychiatrist that I am seeing is Dr. Rushing. She is not strictly a part of the Bariatric Program, but is one of the psychiatrists that they recomend that has worked with many patients of the program. She has her own practice in Corvallis.

So I had been thinking about having WLS for some time. I even sent off for information from this program one time before, then kind of put it aside. I was also considering the program at OSHU in Portland, and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I had talked about it with my regular doctor a few times, and he was very supportive and all for it. My regular doc is Dr. T. Hindmarsh, and he is the best. I really like him and appreciate the care he has given me over the last 10 or so years.

The first part of April of 2007, I decided I had put it off long enough and was ready to commit to WLS. I had decided to go through the program in Corvallis. I called Kim and talked with her a while and asked her to send me the information packet again. I got the packet around the middle of April.

On April 24th, 2007 I attended the first informational meeting. This meeting was conducted by Susan, and was mostly an overview of the program, what was expected of us, and what we could expect from them. There was also a lot of information about what was needed to deal with getting all the information together that was going to be needed by the insurance companies.

On May 16th, 2007 I had an appointment to meet with Susan and Barb. First up was Susan. She wieghed me in and checked my BMI. Yup, here is the scary part. I am 6' 4", wieghed in at 435 lbs and have a BMI of 53!! She then detailed the program for me and gave me a notebook with an outline of the program. This is to be my bible, and I am to read it, make notes where needed and take it to all future meetings. She also gave me a book titled "Wieght Loss Surgery - Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You!" by Barbara Thompson. I went home that evening and read the entire book. It was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. I passed it along to my mom to read, and haven't seen it since. Barbara Thompson has a web site dedicated to wieght loss surgery called Wieght Loss Surgery Center. This is a good site with some good information.
So after Susan finished explaining the program to me and answering my questions, Barb came in to talk to me about diet. She outlined what eating would be like after surgery and went over the food that I would be eating after the surgery. I won't go into all the details for now, but I will at a later date and as I am going through the process myself. She also helped me to set up a plan to lose the 22 lbs I would need to lose before I could have the surgery.

Then on May 22nd, 2007 I attended the second informational meeting. This was the one conducted by Dr. Read and was an in depth look at what the surgery actually is and how it is done. This was the first time (and so far only time) I had met or seen Dr. Read. My first impression is that he is a very down to earth man that genuinely cares about his patients. The meeting was very informational and interesting. My mom went to this meeting with me to help support me, and see what it was about, and when we talked later, she had the same good feeling about him as well.

I forget what the actual date was, but some time after this I had to do an overnight oximetry study. I went to the hospital and picked up a machine that had a little probe that I attached to my finger. I then slept that day (I am a night worker, so yes, that day) with it hooked up to me. This machine kept a record of my oxygen levels and heart rate while I slept to check for sleep apnea. I apparently failed this test, as I was told I would need to go to the sleep lab at the hospital for further tests. I was told this a couple weeks ago, but so far I haven't heard from the lab yet. I will call them later this week if I don't hear from them.

On June 4th and June 11th, 2007 I had appointments with Dr. Rushing, the psychologist. The first meeting was a lot of background information and getting to know each other. The second meeting was spent talking about the changes that would happen once I have the surgery. These were good meetings. I like Dr. Rushing and she is very easy to talk to. I will need to go back at least one more time to take a test and discuss life after the surgery some more.