Peppers-Weight-Loss

I continued my research on my own as I waited for my phone call from OWLS. I was visiting one of the community sites they recommend their patients to become involved in. While there I ran into Karrie Massotti’s post about Why Weight Loss Surgery is Not the Easy Way Out that she had written at Spark People. Her post goes over a lot of the after effects of surgery, about the social issues, and why she chose to have the surgery. These are the things that I have to consider as I move forward down this path. Life will be so much different. This is not a magic button though, I will still have to fight and work. This is a tool for me to lose weight.

Scheduling my appointment

I got a hold of scheduling and found out to make this even harder they only do appointments on Fridays and Saturdays. The two days I am scheduled at work now. But they were able to fit me in on a Saturday I already had asked off, March 12th. Their goal is to try and get as many of the test you need done in each appointment. Some of the tests I will have to go through:

  • Bariatric medical evaluation (history and physical) with a nurse practitioner or bariatrician
  • Nutrition counseling and diet history
  • Psychological testing and evaluation (I will get the contact info from them and have to schedule this test on my own)
  • Physical therapy or exercise assessment
  • Lab work
  • EKG (I will not be able to do this on the day scheduled, so I will have one more appointment to schedule)
  • Sleep study

For the Sleep Study I get to bring a special box home to see if I have sleep apnea. I think this will be very interesting. Especially since lately I’ve been so tired, I’m hoping loosing weight may help. My insurance company also requires me to participate in a “medically managed weight loss program” for 6 months. I will be visiting OWLS every month to work with their nutritionist to weigh in and discuss diet and exercise. I’m actually very happy with this, because if I can loose the weight on my own I would love that. I’m not too hopeful but maybe a professional can help me.

To Be Continued…

Next week I will only be a few days away from my first appointment. We will see how anxious I will be. I really don’t like doctors so by next Wednesday I may be really freaking out. We will see.

Written by

Pepper Ferguson

Hi I'm Pepper. My family and I are sharing pieces of our lives.
We hope to inspire you by showing that even small changes can make the biggest differences in your life. You don't have to go to extremes to become healthy. Just do it one habit, one meal, one walk, and one hug at a time.

Let's work together one piece at a time making better habits, eating healthier, getting moving, and most of all loving our families.

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