The Molecules Heat, and Then, Come to a Boil
Oh. My. Gosh!
I had my call with the nurse life coach yesterday and I tried to keep it as short as possible by answering her questions directly and not providing any extra information. I thought that was best in order to guard my secret, the fact that I don't need six consecutive months of doctor's visits and that they could be within the previous calendar year.
I stopped by my PCP on my lunch break yesterday and filled out a release form allowing them to provide my health records for the past year to my surgeon. FYI: it costs money for them to provide the records directly to you, but costs nothing if they're sending them to another doctor. So if you need to provide records, look into doing it the low-to-no cost way.
In any event, somehow I ended the call with the life coach with her telling me that she would call me back after my September 13th doctor appointment...I thought I was finished with her for September! UGH!!!! I know that I should change my outlook to make this more palatable, but it is truly frustrating to have someone suggesting things to you that you've already taken into consideration or forgetting things that you've already told them. For example, EACH call she asks me whether or not I've attended a seminar regarding GBP. Um, yes, yeah, YUP, I HAVE. I had to attend the seminar first, otherwise they wouldn't identify me as a prospective surgical patient and they wouldn't have provided me with the requirements necessary in order to request authorization from the insurance company. Everyone STARTS with a seminar. The fact that she keeps asking is really annoying. Another favorite is, "What changes have you made from last time we talked to now?" Oh, you mean, in the past two weeks? Well, I ate more fruit than usual, but other than that nothing. Why? Because nothing I do makes a difference. My bi-polar meds have screwed my metabolism and short of really killing myself with exercise, there won't be a major change. I already barely eat, and I mean that. Last night, my dinner was hummus and lunch yesterday was a turkey and cheese sandwich... just turkey and cheese. Some of you might ask, "Why haven't you exercised more?" The short answer is pain.
On a daily basis, I experience shooting pain in my hip, my right knee, and in my back, which is why I am reticent to really devote myself to conditioning my body for walking again at the moment. I used to be a huge advocate for walkin; I love it, I really do, but I'd like to know that when I get back into the swing of things, I will be taking strides towards meaningfully taking the weight off.
The plus side of having my surgery late in the year is that the temperature is starting to change, which I LOVE, and that means tolerable temperatures and the smell of autumn in the air! I usually walk anywhere from 2.5-7 miles twice a week in this kind of weather. It will be perfect for me as I recover from surgery. I'm thinking about starting my clear liquid diet early to, again, test my tolerance for it. The clear liquid is designed to clean out your intestines before surgery which, obviously, you would want so that if there are any complications you don't get fecal matter in your body cavity during surgery. It is NE-CESS-ARY.
It's all very exciting as things heat up. Imagine this process as the act of boiling water...the molecules of H2O move very slowly, at first, until they reach their boiling point and then they are engaged in rapid movement until they change form and become noble gas.
Fitness after surgery will be different for everyone. For me, it's going to be walking my three miles while steadily decreasing my time, getting rid of water weight around the thighs and waist, and increasing distance with swimming for a full body workout. For others, it will be different. We are all different and some people are at varying stages of obesity, some fitness methods aren't as feasible as others are. Personally, I'm just hell bent on using my "youth" to my advantage and making sure that I don't have extra skin.
To carry on the water metaphor from earlier, this process starts very slowly, oh my goodness, super slow. Then, as you acquire all that you need for authorization, things heat up and you can then schedule consultation with your surgeon during which you will have a question and answer opportunity that you didn't have during the seminar, and you'll set a date. Two weeks before surgery, you're on clear liquids until 24 hours before surgery, and then you'll have had nothing. After surgery, you're back on clear liquids for about a week to two weeks, and after that, you'll need soft foods for another two weeks. Then, it's up to you to test what you can and cannot eat. It's a gamut to run. It's not for the faint of heart, and, it's NOT a cop-out. Don't let anyone tell you that it is. You have to remember that some people will not understand that this is a life and death decision. Without the surgery, if you carry on with the status quo, you'll die.