Mar03

MARCH 2003

Monday March 3, 2003
Okay It's begun, finally!!!! I went for my first appointment today with Dr Vohra's office. From the moment I walked in the door and greeted the receptionist I had the best feeling. What a different atmospshere from Dr Gadaleta's office. It felt as if they treated you as a patient, a person and not a number.

It first started with meeting Kathy, she and I spent a good half an hour discussing my medical history. Talk about being thorough. Which is good. We discussed the issues I have had in the past but noted a lot of problems my weight has caused me nowadays. She was really sweet and took note of everything I had to say.

Next I met with Danielle, the dietician. She's great, what a wonderful person she really is, it shows. She makes you open up, and be honest about your dietary issues. What was really cool with her is that she noted the fact that I have already met with a dietician, and knew that I have been through the whole lecture on what to eat and what to expect how to eat after surgery. She did mention that due to the fact that I have a bone tumor in my leg which really inhibits exercise that I may not have to lose too much weight before surgery. Which was a relief, but that is still up to Dr Vohra. We talked and joked a lot about how many health issues I have. She felt that someone my age shouldn't have so many concerns. It was nice to speak to someone about dieting without being judged or spoken to in such a condensating tone because they happen to know it all. God I hate that.

Last but not least I met with Mary, Dr Vohras top lady. We went over my history and what I needed to do to start on healthy habits. I made no excuses, and did not hide the fact that I had left Gadaleta's office for the way I had been treated. She was a tough lady at the seminar, but I must say one on one, when you are sincere and honest with her, she is really nice, knowledgeable and there is something in the way she looks at you while you're talking with her that makes you feel like you can trust her.

On a whole I spent about an hour and a half in the office between all three ladies. It just makes me wish I had found their office sooner than going through Gadaleta's. They actually make you feel like they care. And that really put me at ease. Unfortunately I have to retake my psych evaluation. No I am far from being happy about that, but on the bright side, I don't have too much to do. Mary told me that I still need to obtain a letter from my cardiologist giving his evaluation of my health care, and work ups he had done while in his care. Unfortunately I may have problems because he totally against this, and Danielle said she knows about him (being a bit of a big shot and crazy). I still have to get my abdominal ultrasound and have my legs done too to check my veins. Then on Wednesday when I meet with Dr Vohra he will give me a pulmonologist to see (a lung specialist), hopefully I wont need a sleep study. Good thing I didn't go off and do it on my own, because I might have to have done it over with their doctor. Once all that is done and good, I need medical clearance from my PCP, presurgical testing at the hospital, and Dr Vohras consent. And those last three are in the last 2 weeks before surgery.

So can I get a surgical date next month? I don't know, but I'm really hoping I do. I met with a woman in the office who is due to have surgery on the 25th and she told me that by the time she was done with her prelims to the actual date is 3 months, well I'm well ahead of the game, which could spell a very early date. God I hope so. I want this so bad, it's all that's on my mind. Well that's all for now. I'll let you know the support group meeting goes and how my meeting on Wednesday with Dr Vohra goes as well. Check out my links page, I put together some sites I found helpful. If there is anything you need info on let me know and I'll add it on for you.

Also just a shout out to one of my supporters "BECKY" who just got her surgery date for March 12th!!!! You go girl....it's all about you. Good luck and God Bless!!!!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Okay so I went to my first support group meeting. Not quite what I expected. There were so many people there, close to 200!!!! It was just plain chaos. Not much got accomplished other than a few people telling their success stories and giving advice. Which was great but I thought it would be better organized. A few people had made suggestions of how to break off into groups, one which I agree with is creating groups by age. Lets face it, anyone between the ages of 20-35 have different issues than others in age groups 35-50. Not to be biased but, at those ages we are on different emotional levels as far as life is concerned. Someone who already has a family, a career has a different level of issues than someone who is just starting their careers or still trying to keep up with their single friends. Not that one groups issues are better than the others, it's just that me as a 30 yr old woman, unmarried (not single though), no children, still in termoil about a career is not going to relate to someone emotionally as well with someone who is married, has children, settled in a career, and has more life experiences. Lets face it, we all know being obese does not help in going to a job interview, or dealing with have a single social life with friends who are young and thin.