Preparing for Surgery

I had my pre-op tests done two weeks (to the day) of my surgery. (June 27, 2007). At that time I weighed in at 308. I was at the doctors office for five hours. WOW!!! You are probably wondering why I was there so long..................................When I had my consultation in January, my doctor was against the LapBand and did not want to do that surgery. He hadn't heard good things about the surgery at all. He went to a conference and training in March and heard wonderful things about the LapBand and found it was much better than the gastric bypass and it's also less invasive.

Before I could be considered for surgery, I had to have the following. (Keep in mind I was supposed to have the Gastric Bypass originally. Whether or not all of these things are needed for the LapBand, I don't know. Each insurance company is different.

• Sleep Study Test
• Psych Eval
• Three months behavioral modification w/a dietician or Six months with a MD.

Here I am two weeks before surgery and he gives me the LapBand speech. He told me why he changed his views and why he wants his patients to have this surgery. The pro's out weighed the con's. With the help of my mother and a lot of praying to God, I knew this was the right decision. We did the LapBand. I'm glad I did.

I had a two week pre-op diet I had to do to prepare for surgery. Here is what my diet consisted of two weeks prior to surgery:

• 4 cans of Slimfast Optima
• 4 servings of fruit
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk fat free cottage cheese
• 2-8 oz servings of 1% milk
• 48-64oz Water
• Daily multivitamins and calcium supplement

This is what I had every day for two weeks until my surgery. I was given another option but I don't remember what that was.