So, I decided that instead of waiting for the surgeon's office to call me at home (which is where i WASN'T at) that i would give them another "ring-a-ling" to let them know that I received my actual paperwork in the mail from blue cross saying that I was "approved" for gastric bypass surgery.
I called and talked to Lupe. I was pleased when instead of saying "can i call you back?" she said "can you please hold?" which meant to me that she was probably getting my file to go over some stuff and set up an appointment.
She came back on the line and said "okay, when did you want your surgery date to be, as soon as possible or later?" i laughed, and said "oh...definitely as soon as possible." she was happy to help. To my utter SURPRISE i was shocked when she said "November 19th? or wait, i have November 18th? Are either of those good for you?" Of course! I went with the earlier one. November 18, 2009. Woot woot!!!
My poor heart could hardly take the excitement. I waited as she gave me my instructions:
"Okay, so you'll arrive at Clovis Community Hospital at 9:30am and your surgery time is scheduled for 11:30am. You will be meeting with Dr. Felix for your pre-op appointment at our office here at 11am the day before your surgery, November 17th. He will go over a lot of information with you and you'll get your 'kit' full of vitamins and all that other stuff you'll need after surgery. You will need to be in the hospital for two days and you will be released from the hospital on the 20th. You will need to bring your $950 dollars with you to your appointment on the 17th. You will also need to go on a 'clear liquid' diet starting two days before your surgery, you cannot have anything other than clear liquid."
Just in case anyone decides to go to Dr. Felix's office here in Fresno, CA i was told that I would be able to pay $500 up front and the rest in payments of no less than $50 and I would have to have the remaining $500 paid off (because if you pay only $500, it's not longer $950 it's an additional $50 making your total $1,000) within a year. Obviously, that's no problem. I just wanted to make sure i could pay the $500 and have some time to pay off the rest because within the next two months I should have the extra $500 paid off. :)
After I heard the GREAT news of my SOON surgery date. I was soooo excited.
David and I went to the grocery store because he needed to get some groceries for his apartment. We were walking down the protein shake and vitamin isle and I stopped to look at it. I never thought that looking at protein shakes would give me a "happy" "giddy" "butterflies in my tummy" feeling. It did!!!
That's because when i was looking at all the different protein shakes and putting myself to the TEST i realized that this is now SO real. I will soon be a "prior" gastric bypass patient and I was happy to know that soon i'll be able to use my "tool" to get me back to my health and the happiness that I long for.
I laughed on the ride home while looking at my rings on my fingers saying "i will soon need to have these taken in some, cuz they will eventually fall off my fingers if i don't. I also can't wait til i can wear bracelets again, or necklaces that aren't "REALLY" long around the neck. Oh the excitement!!!
I went online to look for protein shakes that I can do well with. Dr. Felix's booklet mentioned that it's best to buy a protein shake (powder mix, at first) to drink BEFORE surgery. After surgery you can't drive so better to have that on hand. :)
I researched this "Nectar" stuff that my friend, Brooke, mentioned in your blog.
It's basically a zero carb, zero fat, only 90 calorie whey protein shake that tastes and looks a bit like kool-aid.
Which i found would probably sit better in my "pouch" (1 ounce) stomach after surgery rather than a "milky thicker" type protein shake would. I have heard that it actually tastes pretty good too.
Here it is:
Calories - 90 - %
Calories From Fat: 0 - %
Total Fat: 0g - 0**%
Saturated Fat: 0g - 0**%
Cholesterol: <5mg - 1**%
Total Carbohydrates: 0g - 0**%
Dietary Fiber: 0g - 0**%
Sugars: 0g - %
Protein: 23g - 45**%
Calcium: - 15%
Phosphorus: - 8%
Magnesium: - 6%
Sodium: 60mg - 2%
Potassium: 120mg - 4%
I thought that was good information. They have all kinds of flavors. It's made my Syntrax. Look it up on Google. You can purchase it here in town at Flex Factory in Clovis, CA.
I prefer to actually purchase it online thought because it's cheaper. :) I looked it up via Amazon.com. :)
Also, one thing I noticed while reading the reviews is that someone mentioned that the "natural" ones actually use "stevia" which is a better sweetener-type stuff that doesn't eventually "possibly" cause cancer like sweet n' low. The other flavors that aren't the "natural" ones contain the "sweetner" stuff that actually makes you feel hungry. So, just something to note and something to possibly avoid.
23g of protein though per serving so that's GREAT! :)
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