This is a video of the operation I had done.
This is not Dr. Pirrello, but the same tactics were used
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Goals While In the Hospital
Some goals
that the doctors set for you in the hospital are listed below. When you first come out of the surgery you
will not want to do this because you will still be drowsy, but as soon as you
can you want to start doing this, as the sooner you get it done the sooner you
will get to go home. I am sure these
goals are different for each doctor, but to me they seemed like very achievable
goals and goals that helped me prove to myself I could take care of myself; they
are as follows:
·
Walk
as much as you can. As soon as you wake
up enough to walk around, the doctors want you to walk as much as you can; this
is for your own good. The main thing it
does it keeps your body from producing clots, therefore preventing you from
having a pulmonary embolism. This also helps with blood flow and recovery.
·
Intake
fluids. My doctor set a goal for me to
intake 60cc of fluid each hour I was awake.
This consisted of 30cc of protein and 30cc of water; each 15cc should
take you about 15 mins to take in. 15cc
is equal to about one medicine cup of fluid.
To an everyday person this seems so miniscule, but after the surgery you
will have to concentrate hard to work on this as your body is still swollen on
the inside and this will take some time to work up to.
·
Work
on passing fluids through your body.
During your stay the hospital will load you up on fluids, the main goal
I think is to keep you hydrated, but also to make sure your body is still able
to pass fluids through its system.
These are
the main goals the doctors set for me, and sure enough once I meet them I was
able to go home!!!!
Look out for
pictures of my operation and before pictures to come soon. I will also be posting a video of the
operation I had!
Hospital Stay
The first
night in the hospital was a little rough as you could tell from the last
post. It was the plan of the doctors and
myself for me to only be in the hospital one night; so the next morning at 0630
my little friend known as the pain pump was to be removed, and I was to intake
as much fluids as I could before leaving the hospital.
Well, 0630
came and the nurse was right on time to remove the pain pump. Right before she removed it she allowed me to
hit the button a few more times to load myself up with some pain meds (nice
lady)….the next few hours was ok; but after that the pain really sat in.
With the
pain pump removed the only meds they could give me were hydrocodone; and as
strong as that med is; it was not enough to offset the pain. The pain wasn’t a bad pain, but very annoying
pain, I could never find a comfortable position, it was hurting to inhale
deeply, drink, swallow, cough, sneeze, anything like that. And on top of all of the pain issues, my
bladder still had not woken up fully. I
could go to the bathroom and stand there and strain and strain and stain and
only get about 100cc of fluid out, which is not normal. The nurse throughout the day would come in
and do a sonar of my bladder, and each time it was coming back full; but I was
determined to not allow myself to get cathed again ( it wasn’t that bad the
night before, but I had the good meds, now I didn’t!). So every hour I would get up and try my best
to use the bathroom, each time I was able to push a little more out than the
time before. While in the room I
researched the issues I was having with my bladder and found out that it was an
a-typical problem to have but was associated with anesthesia and pain meds; and
the best way to work it out of your system was movement, so I started walking
as much as I could, and eventually throughout the day I was able to produce
about 300-400cc of fluid, which is not perfect but was good enough not to get
cathed again.
Well, the
time came for the doctor to make his rounds.
He came to my room and explained to me that due to my pain level and
issues I was having with my bladder he suggested that I stay in the hospital
another night for monitoring and to make sure that everything was ok. I agreed!
So that day started coming to an end, that night I had some friends stop
by and visit from the fire department and that helped pass a couple of hours,
and then I hit the sac around 2230. That
night sleep was pretty good, the nurses continued to do their job and come
check on me every few hours but I was so exhausted I mostly slept through all
the checkups; even the blood draws, which is very unusual for me being that I
have a huge fear of needles.
The next
morning I woke up around 0630 and felt much better. I got up, done my laps, took my meds, came
back to the room and packed my bags because I was going home that day (in my
head I was, no matter what the doctor said, I was tired of the hospital). During this time I was able to clean myself
off and wait for the doctor. The wait
for the doctor seemed like it was forever, but it was July 4th at
this point; but he did show up around 2pm.
We discussed how I felt throughout the night and my progress, and we
both agreed to allow me to go home.
Before doing so he went over some pictures of the procedure that I had
requested him take. (I will post these as soon as I can). This was very interesting seeing what all was
done on my insides and how they looked now.
After the talk with the doctor, the next thing was in store which I was
not looking forward too. This was the
removal of the drain tube I had in my body.
Unbeknownst to me this thing is like 5 ft long and pretty much surrounds
my insides to drain fluid. The nurse
helped me prepare for the removal by doing some deep breathing and things like
that, but when she pulled it; it was a feeling that I will never forget. It was not a painful feeling it all, but a
very awkward feeling. It felt as though
someone was tickling you from the inside, but the nurse was awesome and had it
out in no time.
After that I
was free to go with a few signatures on a piece of paper…I could not get to my
apartment fast enough…I just wanted to sit in my recliner and relax on my own.
Look out for
the next post as I go over my first week of being alone!
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Big Day!!!! Day #1
The day had
finally arrived!!! As I stated in an
earlier post I woke up very early this morning with only a few hours of sleep,
but I figured I could catch up while I was under the knife. I finished out the last few hours of waiting
with packing some clothes for the hospital and watching the news….trying to keep
my mind off the excitement and the growling stomach that has now been empty for
almost two days.
Finally the
time of 10:30 came so I rushed my dad out the door and onto the road. The ride there was exciting because my dad’s
road rage and Charlotte traffic don’t seem to get along, so it was fairly
eventful.
We arrived
safely at the hospital and I quickly walked to the 2nd floor
surgical suite and checked in. I was
surprised to find out they took me right back to the pre op room. All the staff that I dealt with was
awesome. Everyone came in and was
helpful in any way that I could ever ask for.
Well, after doing all the paperwork and signing my life away and all
that junk, I was handed my gown and was told to get naked and get in bed (too
bad I don’t hear that more often, lol).
The nurse came in and helped me put on my pressure socks and anti-slip
socks and then it was to the bed I went.
I was so excited at this point. I
would compare this waiting to the feeling you have while waiting in line at an
amusement park to get on a ride….I couldn’t wait!!!
I was
scheduled to be pushed back at 1pm, but delays had occurred all morning, and my
operation was delayed more and more and more and more and more and more and
more (at least that’s the way it felt in my head) Finally at around 2:30 Dr Pirello came in and
told me it was my time. I shook his
hand, we had a little talk, and next thing I remember was the nurse came in and
gave me versed…….After that I was floating on cloud 9. I remember being rolled back to the operation
room and I remember moving over to the operating bed, and then I remember
sitting up and telling the people in the room that under no circumstance was a
tube to go up my penis….my exact words (besides a pulmonary embolism, that was
my next biggest fear)….then all I remember was someone whispering to me sweet
dreams!
While I was
sleeping or recovery, I am not sure; I dreamt that the operation was a failure
and that the doctor was unable to complete the operation….I was so sad, not
sure if I was sad in my dream or in recovery….but I do remember that when I
woke up, or came to enough I asked the nurse if everything was good, and she
replied YES!!!!! And we gave each other a high five….the next thing I asked
was….is there anything going up my penis…..she laughed and said so……I was very
relieved. The next hour or so I was very
very very drowsy, but when I started to wake up more; I meet my little friend
called an on demand pump filled with deluded…..and attached to this little man
was a trigger, me and that trigger bonded over the next few hours. I would not say I was in tremendous pain but
it was very uncomfortable, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach really
hard (funny to say that knowing I don’t really have a stomach any more
ahhahahaa). Once I arrived in my room on
the 4th floor I was shocked to see the time, it was 8:30pm. I remembered being pushed back at 3pm, so I
asked my dad if something had went wrong during the operation, and he told me
that they had to do more work on me due to me having a hernia that they didn’t
know about, and my stomach and spleen were attached (not normal), and my
stomach was thicker than normal so it took more time for the whole
operation…..but all in all everything went well.
Over the
next few hours I was recovering, but I wanted to get up and walk around because
I have a huge fear of a pulmonary embolisms.
I am in the fire department and am an EMT so I have seen people die out
of nowhere with a PE, so I knew that movement would help prevent this. So around 10:30pm I was able to get up. I made it to the hall way and made me a
couple laps around the floor. I was
amazing myself, I was still very drowsy and in a lot of pain, but I HAD to move
to get better. After those two laps I
was wore out and very sore. I went back
to my room and got in my bed and got ready for sleep. With the help of my new pain med friend I was
able to sleep somewhat well. But all
good things must come to an end….and that happened around 3am in the morning
when the nurses came in and asked if I had went to the bathroom, and my answer
was no ( I knew deep down inside why they were asking, and what this was
leading too, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself)….so me and nurse got me
up and I stood in front of the toilet for what felt like an eternity….but I
could not find the right muscles to strain to go to the bathroom….me and the
nurse tried everything from running water, to dipping my hand in warm water,
etc. but nothing! So I told the nurse
that I was ok and that I didn’t need to go….well her being the good nurse she
was, she didn’t take that answer; next thing I know is there is a sonar machine
in my room (one like they use to find out if a baby is a boy or girl)….so they
gelled me up and took a look at my bladder; to my disappointment my bladder was
full yet I wasn’t able to go to the bathroom……so what did that mean????? You got that right, a cath…AKA the
devil!!!! I had never had this done
before and was very nervous…..but thanks to my pain med friend and numbing gel;
it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Come to find out she emptied like 800cc of fluid from me….and after that
I was so relieved…..
Well, that
is the story of Day #1, look out for day #2 to come very soon!!!
The day before the big day!
Well, the
day before the operation had arrived, and boy was I excited. I decided to go into work that day to help
with some of the time I would be taking off; not that I would be much help in
the office as I am a new guy, but I didn’t want to use all the unnecessary sick
time. Well, as you may or may not be
aware on the day before your operation the doctor starts you on the
prescription strength anti acid, antibiotics and the worst one……a body cleanse
AKA, an intensive X-Lax…..I was slated to take my first one at lunch time that
day. In my head I didn’t think it would
be that bad because I was on a starvation diet the last two days to help the
surgeon during my operation, but was I to be surprised.
The work day
came to an end a little early, my boss told me to take the rest of the day off
to take care of myself; so on my way out the door at work I chugged the 10oz
bottle of the mix. I got home and
settled in for a little bit, thinking I would not want to be too far away from
a toilet.
JUST A
LITTLE WARNING, THIS PARAGRAPH GETS A LITTLE GRAPHIC!!!
Well three
hours in I thought the medicine had not worked, as nothing had happened; but
when I went to go let a little natural passing of gas, I should have thought
twice before that; I think I quickly realized I could no longer trust a
FART….so needless to say the next few hours I was constantly going to the
bathroom…..and to be honest, I had no idea I had that much crap in me
(literally)
Well, my
next mistake after trying to trust a passing of gas was running a fire
call. I am on my local fire department
and decided to answer a call for a fire at the movie theatre. So I jumped in the truck with a few other
good guys and we ran the call, needless to say the call was a real one so we
spent the next 3 hours on site…..man oh man can you talk about sweating like a
whore in church……I had movements inside my body and noises coming from me that
I did not know I could make….I was very relieved when I got the all clear from
my chief to go back to the station…..
The rest of
the night went by pretty eventless; my dad came down to spend the night with me
so he could take me to the hospital the next day. As I expected I could not sleep that night
due to the excitement that I had built up inside me. So I spent the next few hours watching
infomercials on tv, and texting anyone I could find away at this hour….luckily
I had a friend that is 6 hours behind me so he was able to talk a little bit
through the night.
I eventually
fell asleep and next thing I know I am waking up at 6am!!!! Any other day my alarm clock would be going
off at 7am for work and I would toss and turn in bed moaning about how I love
sleep, but not this morning….so I watched the news and tried to pass the time
until around 10:30, which is when I would need to leave my house to make my way
to the hospital.
Well, look
out for the next post as I walk through my operation!!!!
Saturday, July 13, 2013
My Pre Op Meetings
After the seminar I did not wait very long before calling the office to schedule my first visit with Dr Pirrello, actually I only waited about 12 hours until the office opened up. I was able to make an appointment for the following week.
My first appointment was very exciting. I got there very early and was greeted by an awesome group of people. The lady named Scarlett at the front desk was very delightful, happy and very welcoming. I checked in, gave all my information, signed my life away and went and sat in the waiting room; this had to be the longest 5 minutes of my life as I waited to be called back. Once I was called back I was once again greeted by some awesome nurses. Like always they checked my vitals and all the normal stuff. Long story shortened, the doctor finally arrived. He was very personable and has an awesomely dry sense of humor. We talked like we had known each other for years. We talked about what I was looking for, and what I was hoping to gain out of this operation. After spilling my guts to him he asked why I was going to have the bypass and not the sleeve; I couldn't give him a very good answer; he didn't tell me this I just knew I didn't have a good enough answer; so I followed up his question with a question. I asked him why I should get the sleeve over the bypass. He went on to explain that I am only 24, had no medical issues that needed to be corrected by gastric bypass and I would be able to get the same results from the sleeve as I would the bypass with a lot less risk of complications. So, being the hard headed person I have grown to be, I told him I would think about it and get back to him. The rest of the appointment we discussed what my next steps were to be and what kind of time frame I was looking at. I had a goal of getting this operation done at the end of June beginning of July due to me knowing the 4th quarter at my job is always very busy. The doctor told me it was possible I just had to move fast.
After that meeting with the doctor I immediately left the office, went home and started calling and lining up all the other required doctor appointments that my insurance required. I was very luck to have Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC, they recognized this problem I had as a problem, so they did not require me to go on a doctor supervised diet or anything like that, all the required was a psychological exam, Gastrointestinal exam, one nutritionists meeting and my Primary Care Physician to sign off on the operation.
The first person I called was my Primary Care Physician; Dr Christopher Zagar with Lakeside Family Physicians. He has been my doctor since my senior year in college, and if anyone ever ask me, he is the best doctor on the face of this planet. I had already discussed with him my intentions at a previous meeting with him, and he was very supportive and told me that he would do what ever necessary to help me. So, when I called him he agreed over the phone that he supported me and didn't really require meeting with me as he knew all about me; so in my mind I racked that up as a check mark off my list. The next person I called was the Psycho (what I call the psychologist) He was able to get me in the following week, so I scooped up that appointment as soon as they gave it to me. The last people that I had to call was the Gastro people. I called them and found out they were booked solid for a month; this was a very big blow to me as this was going to put me behind in my schedule; so I took the earliest appointment they had and decided to just hope and pray something else would come up so I could get in there sooner.
I was able to go to the psychologists and tell him that I was a fat person and wanted to be skinny, he asked the typical psychologists questions and then said he approved me for the operation. The one down fall that he told me about as I was leaving his office is that his transcriptionists usually takes two to three weeks to get my report out to my doctor, when I heard this I was once again dealt with a blow to my time schedule I was trying to work through....I expressed my concerns with the doctor and he said he would work with me as much as he could.
The next doctor I went to was the gastro doctor. during this visit the main goal was to get a good picture of my insides and to check to see how bad my refulx. Like I stated earlier in this post, this doctor had been booked solid for weeks out, but I called every day to check for cancellations and to see if something had opened up for me to come in, and lucky me, one day I called and they had an opening that day. So I jumped in the car and went to the office. I had been warned about this visit, because I was told I would have to drink "chalk". So I was a little nervous about what was going to happen, but once I got into the x-ray room I was relieved to find the nurse and the doctor to be very kind. The chalky material wasn't the best tasting stuff in the world, but then again it wasn't bad. During my examination I had to drink this substance while standing and sitting in about every type of position you could imagine, but the whole time I just told myself that it was worth it in the end. This appointment only lasted about one hour and I was out of there. This doctor was able to submit my report pretty much the next day, so come to find out the doctor that I was most worried about when it came to time constraints was the doctor that moved the fastest.
The last appointment that I set up was with my nutritionists. I meet with her and we talked about what I could expect with my operation in regards to food intake, output and other things such as that. We went over the supplements that I would have to take, and the progression of food intake I would have after the operation. This lady was very helpful and extremely nice. We set up a plan for me to meet with her every month from then on after my surgery to follow me throughout the food timeline.
Around the 2nd week in June, I scheduled my next appointment with Dr Pirrellos office and was set up to see his PA Christy. I went into the office and we talked about what all I had done and the time frame that I was looking at. I told her I was looking at getting this done ASAP and she told me it was very possible at the speed in which I was getting things done. I found out during this meeting that all doctors had approved me except for the psychologists as he had not yet submitted his report. I left this meeting determined that I was going to get this doctor to submit his report so I could get this show on the road. Finally during this appointment I had to decided upon which operation I wanted to have. Like I have said before I was set and determined that I was going to have the bypass, but after doing a ton of research and reading reviews and everything else you could think of, I had decided to go through with the sleeve. So this appointment wrapped up and while I was leaving my case manager told me that she would call as soon as everything came in and my insurance approve my operation.
Well the next few days were long as I awaited that call; but one day I got off work a little early and stopped by the fire department and decided to call my psychologists office and see if they had submitted my report to the doctor yet. This was on June 25th. When I called the receptionist told me that the report had been submitted the previous Friday to Dr Pirrellos office. Man was I excited, I hung up the phone with such happiness and called Dr Pirellos office ASAP and got my case manager. When she got on the phone I asked if she had received my report from all of my doctors now, and she told me yes, and that insurance had approved my operation. When I heard this there was such a peace that all of a sudden came over my body...I was so excited I almost broke down crying. My case manager then asked me what I thought about the 2nd of July. I then asked her, the 2nd? is that for my pre op workup, and she replied "no that will be your operation date, I will need you in here this Thursday for your pre op work up and and blood work". Man oh man when I found out that my operation was going to be a week away I felt like I was walking on cloud 9.
Well that Thursday arrived and I went to the hospital to meet with Doctor Pirrello. I arrived about an hour early so I could go and meet with the Anesthesia team as well. I went to the 2nd floor meet with that team and got my blood work done, and all my questions answered by them.. The explained how the Anesthesia worked and what I would feel, etc. I was very familiar with this process as I have had many operations as a child on my ears. So as soon as I got done there I went down to Dr Pirrellos office and waited to meet him. I had to wait forever this day because his office was very backed up due to an incident that morning, so I was scheduled to meet the doctor at 11am, but didn't get back to see him until after 1pm; but I didn't care, I knew what was happening in 5 days so nothing really mattered to me. I went back, we talked and he assured me that all was well and that he was going to make me right. The meeting was very personable and very informative. He told me everything he would do and how long it would take and all things like that. During this meeting he went over all the pills that he wanted me to take, when to take what and how to take them. It was a long list, but he assured me that after the operation the list would shrink down fast.
After this meeting, I went home for the day and began the wait of the 5 longest days ever. I felt like I was a kid waiting to go to Disney World in 5 days, I could not sleep at night, the days could not go by fast enough, etc!!! But the day finally did arrive, and boy was I excited.
Look out for the next post as I discuss my day before operation prep, and the morning of my operation.
Also I know this is a lot I am typing, and I am not able to get all the information in that I really want to, but please if you have any questions for me please add them in the comments section and I will answer them for you.
My first appointment was very exciting. I got there very early and was greeted by an awesome group of people. The lady named Scarlett at the front desk was very delightful, happy and very welcoming. I checked in, gave all my information, signed my life away and went and sat in the waiting room; this had to be the longest 5 minutes of my life as I waited to be called back. Once I was called back I was once again greeted by some awesome nurses. Like always they checked my vitals and all the normal stuff. Long story shortened, the doctor finally arrived. He was very personable and has an awesomely dry sense of humor. We talked like we had known each other for years. We talked about what I was looking for, and what I was hoping to gain out of this operation. After spilling my guts to him he asked why I was going to have the bypass and not the sleeve; I couldn't give him a very good answer; he didn't tell me this I just knew I didn't have a good enough answer; so I followed up his question with a question. I asked him why I should get the sleeve over the bypass. He went on to explain that I am only 24, had no medical issues that needed to be corrected by gastric bypass and I would be able to get the same results from the sleeve as I would the bypass with a lot less risk of complications. So, being the hard headed person I have grown to be, I told him I would think about it and get back to him. The rest of the appointment we discussed what my next steps were to be and what kind of time frame I was looking at. I had a goal of getting this operation done at the end of June beginning of July due to me knowing the 4th quarter at my job is always very busy. The doctor told me it was possible I just had to move fast.
After that meeting with the doctor I immediately left the office, went home and started calling and lining up all the other required doctor appointments that my insurance required. I was very luck to have Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC, they recognized this problem I had as a problem, so they did not require me to go on a doctor supervised diet or anything like that, all the required was a psychological exam, Gastrointestinal exam, one nutritionists meeting and my Primary Care Physician to sign off on the operation.
The first person I called was my Primary Care Physician; Dr Christopher Zagar with Lakeside Family Physicians. He has been my doctor since my senior year in college, and if anyone ever ask me, he is the best doctor on the face of this planet. I had already discussed with him my intentions at a previous meeting with him, and he was very supportive and told me that he would do what ever necessary to help me. So, when I called him he agreed over the phone that he supported me and didn't really require meeting with me as he knew all about me; so in my mind I racked that up as a check mark off my list. The next person I called was the Psycho (what I call the psychologist) He was able to get me in the following week, so I scooped up that appointment as soon as they gave it to me. The last people that I had to call was the Gastro people. I called them and found out they were booked solid for a month; this was a very big blow to me as this was going to put me behind in my schedule; so I took the earliest appointment they had and decided to just hope and pray something else would come up so I could get in there sooner.
I was able to go to the psychologists and tell him that I was a fat person and wanted to be skinny, he asked the typical psychologists questions and then said he approved me for the operation. The one down fall that he told me about as I was leaving his office is that his transcriptionists usually takes two to three weeks to get my report out to my doctor, when I heard this I was once again dealt with a blow to my time schedule I was trying to work through....I expressed my concerns with the doctor and he said he would work with me as much as he could.
The next doctor I went to was the gastro doctor. during this visit the main goal was to get a good picture of my insides and to check to see how bad my refulx. Like I stated earlier in this post, this doctor had been booked solid for weeks out, but I called every day to check for cancellations and to see if something had opened up for me to come in, and lucky me, one day I called and they had an opening that day. So I jumped in the car and went to the office. I had been warned about this visit, because I was told I would have to drink "chalk". So I was a little nervous about what was going to happen, but once I got into the x-ray room I was relieved to find the nurse and the doctor to be very kind. The chalky material wasn't the best tasting stuff in the world, but then again it wasn't bad. During my examination I had to drink this substance while standing and sitting in about every type of position you could imagine, but the whole time I just told myself that it was worth it in the end. This appointment only lasted about one hour and I was out of there. This doctor was able to submit my report pretty much the next day, so come to find out the doctor that I was most worried about when it came to time constraints was the doctor that moved the fastest.
The last appointment that I set up was with my nutritionists. I meet with her and we talked about what I could expect with my operation in regards to food intake, output and other things such as that. We went over the supplements that I would have to take, and the progression of food intake I would have after the operation. This lady was very helpful and extremely nice. We set up a plan for me to meet with her every month from then on after my surgery to follow me throughout the food timeline.
Around the 2nd week in June, I scheduled my next appointment with Dr Pirrellos office and was set up to see his PA Christy. I went into the office and we talked about what all I had done and the time frame that I was looking at. I told her I was looking at getting this done ASAP and she told me it was very possible at the speed in which I was getting things done. I found out during this meeting that all doctors had approved me except for the psychologists as he had not yet submitted his report. I left this meeting determined that I was going to get this doctor to submit his report so I could get this show on the road. Finally during this appointment I had to decided upon which operation I wanted to have. Like I have said before I was set and determined that I was going to have the bypass, but after doing a ton of research and reading reviews and everything else you could think of, I had decided to go through with the sleeve. So this appointment wrapped up and while I was leaving my case manager told me that she would call as soon as everything came in and my insurance approve my operation.
Well the next few days were long as I awaited that call; but one day I got off work a little early and stopped by the fire department and decided to call my psychologists office and see if they had submitted my report to the doctor yet. This was on June 25th. When I called the receptionist told me that the report had been submitted the previous Friday to Dr Pirrellos office. Man was I excited, I hung up the phone with such happiness and called Dr Pirellos office ASAP and got my case manager. When she got on the phone I asked if she had received my report from all of my doctors now, and she told me yes, and that insurance had approved my operation. When I heard this there was such a peace that all of a sudden came over my body...I was so excited I almost broke down crying. My case manager then asked me what I thought about the 2nd of July. I then asked her, the 2nd? is that for my pre op workup, and she replied "no that will be your operation date, I will need you in here this Thursday for your pre op work up and and blood work". Man oh man when I found out that my operation was going to be a week away I felt like I was walking on cloud 9.
Well that Thursday arrived and I went to the hospital to meet with Doctor Pirrello. I arrived about an hour early so I could go and meet with the Anesthesia team as well. I went to the 2nd floor meet with that team and got my blood work done, and all my questions answered by them.. The explained how the Anesthesia worked and what I would feel, etc. I was very familiar with this process as I have had many operations as a child on my ears. So as soon as I got done there I went down to Dr Pirrellos office and waited to meet him. I had to wait forever this day because his office was very backed up due to an incident that morning, so I was scheduled to meet the doctor at 11am, but didn't get back to see him until after 1pm; but I didn't care, I knew what was happening in 5 days so nothing really mattered to me. I went back, we talked and he assured me that all was well and that he was going to make me right. The meeting was very personable and very informative. He told me everything he would do and how long it would take and all things like that. During this meeting he went over all the pills that he wanted me to take, when to take what and how to take them. It was a long list, but he assured me that after the operation the list would shrink down fast.
After this meeting, I went home for the day and began the wait of the 5 longest days ever. I felt like I was a kid waiting to go to Disney World in 5 days, I could not sleep at night, the days could not go by fast enough, etc!!! But the day finally did arrive, and boy was I excited.
Look out for the next post as I discuss my day before operation prep, and the morning of my operation.
Also I know this is a lot I am typing, and I am not able to get all the information in that I really want to, but please if you have any questions for me please add them in the comments section and I will answer them for you.
Friday, July 12, 2013
The Start of the process!
May 28th, 2013 will always be remembered in my mind as the day that my new life technically started. It was the day of the Seminar. I was so excited about this meeting, because I had been to one before with another doctor, but had never meet this doctor before and was very interested in seeing what he had to say.
Before going, or better yet before even looking up a doctor I had done a ton of research on this type of operations, so I had already decided on the Gastric Bypass operation. I still had to go to the seminar as a requirement by the doctor and insurance.
At the seminar I was very shocked to see how many people were actually there. We were in a conference room on the the first floor of the Matthews Hospital and there had to be at least 40 people in there. I was very excited about this mainly because I knew of the large support this showed, if there were lots of people that means there would be a lot of support. Another thing that I noticed on this first entry into the seminar is another thing that I am going to go off on a tangent about for a few minutes and talk about.
All my life as a big person I've had fears and anxieties whenever I would go somewhere, I always was worrying about what kind of seating is going to be offered. The questions that always went through my mind were; will the seats be big enough? Will they hold me? Am I going to have to squeeze in? Will I fit into the booth? Will I break the chair? And many upon many other questions..... but when I walked into this seminar I was greeted with large seats. I was very relieved, it is like the hospital understood what I was going through and what kind of hardships I and the others there faced and they were prepared for that; and to me when I saw that when I walked into the seminar I felt very relieved, and very welcomed by the hospital because they went out of their way to take care of me!!!
During the seminar I was introduced to an operation that I had heard of but had not really done much research on it before. It was called the Gastric Sleeve. Dr. Pirrello was really pushing this operation as an operation that would allow you to loose weight, as much so as the gastric bypass and was able to be conducted with the lower risk of complications and problems after the operation; the one downfall to this operation is the operation did not statistically cure diabetes.
The seminar lasted about two hours and was very informative. Dr Pirrello was very personable and gave a lot of examples of success stories and a story of personal connection as to why he got into the field of weight loss surgery
After this meeting I was still convinced I was going to get the gastric bypass; I wasn't very sure as to why I was going to stick with it, mainly I think it is because I am hard headed and did not like others telling me what to do, so this was a way for me to "stick it to the man", although I wasn't very sure who I was "Sticking" it too.
Look out for the next post for my stories of the pre-op meetings and appointments and my further research!!!
Before going, or better yet before even looking up a doctor I had done a ton of research on this type of operations, so I had already decided on the Gastric Bypass operation. I still had to go to the seminar as a requirement by the doctor and insurance.
At the seminar I was very shocked to see how many people were actually there. We were in a conference room on the the first floor of the Matthews Hospital and there had to be at least 40 people in there. I was very excited about this mainly because I knew of the large support this showed, if there were lots of people that means there would be a lot of support. Another thing that I noticed on this first entry into the seminar is another thing that I am going to go off on a tangent about for a few minutes and talk about.
All my life as a big person I've had fears and anxieties whenever I would go somewhere, I always was worrying about what kind of seating is going to be offered. The questions that always went through my mind were; will the seats be big enough? Will they hold me? Am I going to have to squeeze in? Will I fit into the booth? Will I break the chair? And many upon many other questions..... but when I walked into this seminar I was greeted with large seats. I was very relieved, it is like the hospital understood what I was going through and what kind of hardships I and the others there faced and they were prepared for that; and to me when I saw that when I walked into the seminar I felt very relieved, and very welcomed by the hospital because they went out of their way to take care of me!!!
During the seminar I was introduced to an operation that I had heard of but had not really done much research on it before. It was called the Gastric Sleeve. Dr. Pirrello was really pushing this operation as an operation that would allow you to loose weight, as much so as the gastric bypass and was able to be conducted with the lower risk of complications and problems after the operation; the one downfall to this operation is the operation did not statistically cure diabetes.
The seminar lasted about two hours and was very informative. Dr Pirrello was very personable and gave a lot of examples of success stories and a story of personal connection as to why he got into the field of weight loss surgery
After this meeting I was still convinced I was going to get the gastric bypass; I wasn't very sure as to why I was going to stick with it, mainly I think it is because I am hard headed and did not like others telling me what to do, so this was a way for me to "stick it to the man", although I wasn't very sure who I was "Sticking" it too.
Look out for the next post for my stories of the pre-op meetings and appointments and my further research!!!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Finding a Doctor!!!
From the time of me moving back home to Mount Airy, and getting a job with Forsyth County Emergency Services I decided to do something and find a doctor to move forward with it.
I researched the local doctors and found a doctor in Winston Salem that was very popular. I will not mention his name or hospital he is affiliated with because I do not believe my decision process is right for everyone, but he ended up not being the right doctor for me. The reason being is as follows; I went to the seminar and all he talked about was the money the operation cost (and to most of us it did not matter because we had insurance), I got the impression that he was really trying to impress is with how much money his practice made, and how beneficial he was to the hospital he worked for. After the seminar, I went to a couple of follow up appointments and was not impressed at all. Most of the time I had to go to the doctor's office, wait for hours just to see the doctor for maybe 3 minutes. He always seemed rushed, and when I had questions he recommended that I check out his website because most questions were answered there, so I ended up not being very happy; and in the end I had dropped a lot of money with this doctor with all the test that he required and visits, so when I made the decision not to move forward with him, it set me back and it was a blow to my drive so I quit searching and looking.
Well, as I said in a previous post I was soon offered a job back with The EI GROUP in Charlotte, NC. I took the job and moved back to the area. As soon as I started this company in April of 2013 I quickly started researching my insurance company, even before I received an insurance card. I quickly found that my insurance company covered the operation, and I quickly found a doctor. I used a very sophisticated search method for finding my doctor, i.e. Google, ahhahahaah. I took a gamble by going with the top search result and hoped for the best.
The Doctor I found was Dr. Jon Pirrello out of the Novant Health-Presbyterian Matthews Hospital in Matthews, North Carolina.
Here is a link to his website:
Dr Jon Pirrello's Office
Continue on to the next blog to hear about the pre op journey I went through!!!
I researched the local doctors and found a doctor in Winston Salem that was very popular. I will not mention his name or hospital he is affiliated with because I do not believe my decision process is right for everyone, but he ended up not being the right doctor for me. The reason being is as follows; I went to the seminar and all he talked about was the money the operation cost (and to most of us it did not matter because we had insurance), I got the impression that he was really trying to impress is with how much money his practice made, and how beneficial he was to the hospital he worked for. After the seminar, I went to a couple of follow up appointments and was not impressed at all. Most of the time I had to go to the doctor's office, wait for hours just to see the doctor for maybe 3 minutes. He always seemed rushed, and when I had questions he recommended that I check out his website because most questions were answered there, so I ended up not being very happy; and in the end I had dropped a lot of money with this doctor with all the test that he required and visits, so when I made the decision not to move forward with him, it set me back and it was a blow to my drive so I quit searching and looking.
Well, as I said in a previous post I was soon offered a job back with The EI GROUP in Charlotte, NC. I took the job and moved back to the area. As soon as I started this company in April of 2013 I quickly started researching my insurance company, even before I received an insurance card. I quickly found that my insurance company covered the operation, and I quickly found a doctor. I used a very sophisticated search method for finding my doctor, i.e. Google, ahhahahaah. I took a gamble by going with the top search result and hoped for the best.
The Doctor I found was Dr. Jon Pirrello out of the Novant Health-Presbyterian Matthews Hospital in Matthews, North Carolina.
Here is a link to his website:
Dr Jon Pirrello's Office
Continue on to the next blog to hear about the pre op journey I went through!!!
Decision To Do Something
Now that you have some of my background, now I want to discuss why I decided to eventually do something about my weight.
Like I said in my previous blog, I have always been a bigger person, but never really could find the motivation to do something about it.
To give a little more of a background on me, my parents have always been bigger people, now weather its genetics, lifestyle or a combination of both that got me to the lifestyle I was living, I didn't really care because for the longest time I wanted to do something about the size that I have become.
My mom while I was in middle school (9 years ago) decided to go through with the mini gastric by pass operation. At the time, I really didn't realize what was going on, I was 13-14, but I never saw my mom as a big person, I always saw her for the beautiful sweet lady that was always there for me. So, long story short, she went through with the operation and over time I saw the struggles she had, the ups and downs, but in the end I saw her go from a very unhealthily lifestyle to a fairly healthy lifestyle with the help from this operation.
As time went on my lifestyle continued to be the same that it has been since a early age of 8. I was constantly eating the wrong things, at the wrong time in the wrong proportions, so after college I decided something needed to be done; but I needed to get a solid financial grounding before embarking on this type of endeavor.
As I was graduating college, a lot of insurance companies were starting to come on board with the fact that weight loss operations were beneficial and could really help their customer base, so my goal was to find a job that had good health care insurance (this was pre-Obamacare so good health insurance wasn't hard to come by). I was very lucky right out of college to get a job with THE EI GROUP out of Raleigh, NC; and they had very good health insurance; but due to my low self motivation, and drive to work I let the thought of having weight loss surgery slip through my mind and never really moved on it. Long story shortened, I left the EI GROUP and moved back to Mount Airy, NC and got a job with Forsyth County Emergency Services working in the 911 center. This job was the best and probably the worst thing for me at the time. I was able to apply my personality and drive to help others in a job that quenched all my desires when it come to that need; but on the other hand was a very sedentary job (which I had never really had before); so over the next two years I gained almost 70 pounds working in this type of field.
I had the opportunity to go back to work for THE EI GROUP in Charlotte, NC (where I went to college), so I quickly took the offer and moved to Charlotte. As soon as I got here I found out what kind of Insurance I had and decided to move forward with the operation!
Continue to the next post for my pre op journey and decisions that were made from there!
Like I said in my previous blog, I have always been a bigger person, but never really could find the motivation to do something about it.
To give a little more of a background on me, my parents have always been bigger people, now weather its genetics, lifestyle or a combination of both that got me to the lifestyle I was living, I didn't really care because for the longest time I wanted to do something about the size that I have become.
My mom while I was in middle school (9 years ago) decided to go through with the mini gastric by pass operation. At the time, I really didn't realize what was going on, I was 13-14, but I never saw my mom as a big person, I always saw her for the beautiful sweet lady that was always there for me. So, long story short, she went through with the operation and over time I saw the struggles she had, the ups and downs, but in the end I saw her go from a very unhealthily lifestyle to a fairly healthy lifestyle with the help from this operation.
As time went on my lifestyle continued to be the same that it has been since a early age of 8. I was constantly eating the wrong things, at the wrong time in the wrong proportions, so after college I decided something needed to be done; but I needed to get a solid financial grounding before embarking on this type of endeavor.
As I was graduating college, a lot of insurance companies were starting to come on board with the fact that weight loss operations were beneficial and could really help their customer base, so my goal was to find a job that had good health care insurance (this was pre-Obamacare so good health insurance wasn't hard to come by). I was very lucky right out of college to get a job with THE EI GROUP out of Raleigh, NC; and they had very good health insurance; but due to my low self motivation, and drive to work I let the thought of having weight loss surgery slip through my mind and never really moved on it. Long story shortened, I left the EI GROUP and moved back to Mount Airy, NC and got a job with Forsyth County Emergency Services working in the 911 center. This job was the best and probably the worst thing for me at the time. I was able to apply my personality and drive to help others in a job that quenched all my desires when it come to that need; but on the other hand was a very sedentary job (which I had never really had before); so over the next two years I gained almost 70 pounds working in this type of field.
I had the opportunity to go back to work for THE EI GROUP in Charlotte, NC (where I went to college), so I quickly took the offer and moved to Charlotte. As soon as I got here I found out what kind of Insurance I had and decided to move forward with the operation!
Continue to the next post for my pre op journey and decisions that were made from there!
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Background
I am a 24 year old boy/man from the backwoods of Mount Airy, NC. I was born and raised in a nice little town of around 10,000 people where I was raised to be very close to my family, community and church.
All my life I have been a bigger person, but I think it all really started around the age of 8 when I had my adenoids and tonsils taken out due to prolonged infections, etc. As you may or may not know, this procedure requires the patient to eat soft, cold, sweet, and very scrumptious foods for a little while after the operation due to swelling and irritation in the throat. So during this time, I went from a big boy, to a very vastly growing bigger boy. From that point on, the addiction had been started and little did I know my lifestyle was being established.
Throughout my childhood I liked to play outdoors; building forts in the woods, exploring the woods, playing in my sand box, throwing ball, etc. but as a victim of my generation the video game was soon introduced. I remember sitting in front of my Atari, super Nintendo, and other gaming consoles for hours at a time as a child not really knowing what type of life I was setting up for myself. So between the introduction of immense amounts of sweets during my operation (s) and my new found love with video games and technology, my lifestyle was becoming more permanent and routine.
Throughout school I was always a person that everyone knew. I was never the popular kid, nor was I the "looser", but I considered myself the middle person. I got along with everyone, was always smiling and was someone anybody could talk to. Throughout my life in school I was never really bullied about my size, but me and my friends sometimes picked around about me being big, etc. but nothing that really hurt me emotionally.
In middle school and high school I started to really realize that I was "bigger" than the rest of my class, and that this may not be normal; but due to the human nature of a young person I thought I could fix this issues at a later date. I always remember my parents telling me to get a hold of the issue while I was young, or it would be harder to do when I got older; but as you may know kids always know more than their parents so I always put it off. My parents always encouraged me to become more active and get in shape as they would pay for gym memberships, sports fees, diets, etc. Pretty much anything that I was willing to try, my parents were more than willing to provide a way for me to do it; it was just a mere problem that I had little to no self motivation.
As high school was rounding out and my life at community college was beginning I remember the point in my life that I technically hit "bottom" when it came to my weight. I have always been a thrill seeker, someone that likes to go to haunted places, dark scary places, amusement parks, etc. I was a big fan of going to Carowinds, which was about two hours away from where I grew up. I will never forget the day that I went with some friends and got on a new roller coaster for the first time (used to be called the Borge, brand new at the time) and the safety harness would not fasten. I remember this big black man coming over and trying to stand on my chest so the harness would clip, but we could not get it, so eventually he said "dude, you're too fat, you can't ride", these words are forever etched into my mind and left an impression on me for probably the rest of my life. I was devastated, one of my biggest loves, amusement park rides; had been taken from me. But like always I struggled through the hardship of that day, and pushed off the "loosing weight" to another day.
This is a brief overview of my past, where I came from and where the weight issue started. Please continue to follow my blog as I educate you more on my life, decision, and ultimate decision to go through with the Gastric Sleeve Operation.
All my life I have been a bigger person, but I think it all really started around the age of 8 when I had my adenoids and tonsils taken out due to prolonged infections, etc. As you may or may not know, this procedure requires the patient to eat soft, cold, sweet, and very scrumptious foods for a little while after the operation due to swelling and irritation in the throat. So during this time, I went from a big boy, to a very vastly growing bigger boy. From that point on, the addiction had been started and little did I know my lifestyle was being established.
Throughout my childhood I liked to play outdoors; building forts in the woods, exploring the woods, playing in my sand box, throwing ball, etc. but as a victim of my generation the video game was soon introduced. I remember sitting in front of my Atari, super Nintendo, and other gaming consoles for hours at a time as a child not really knowing what type of life I was setting up for myself. So between the introduction of immense amounts of sweets during my operation (s) and my new found love with video games and technology, my lifestyle was becoming more permanent and routine.
Throughout school I was always a person that everyone knew. I was never the popular kid, nor was I the "looser", but I considered myself the middle person. I got along with everyone, was always smiling and was someone anybody could talk to. Throughout my life in school I was never really bullied about my size, but me and my friends sometimes picked around about me being big, etc. but nothing that really hurt me emotionally.
In middle school and high school I started to really realize that I was "bigger" than the rest of my class, and that this may not be normal; but due to the human nature of a young person I thought I could fix this issues at a later date. I always remember my parents telling me to get a hold of the issue while I was young, or it would be harder to do when I got older; but as you may know kids always know more than their parents so I always put it off. My parents always encouraged me to become more active and get in shape as they would pay for gym memberships, sports fees, diets, etc. Pretty much anything that I was willing to try, my parents were more than willing to provide a way for me to do it; it was just a mere problem that I had little to no self motivation.
As high school was rounding out and my life at community college was beginning I remember the point in my life that I technically hit "bottom" when it came to my weight. I have always been a thrill seeker, someone that likes to go to haunted places, dark scary places, amusement parks, etc. I was a big fan of going to Carowinds, which was about two hours away from where I grew up. I will never forget the day that I went with some friends and got on a new roller coaster for the first time (used to be called the Borge, brand new at the time) and the safety harness would not fasten. I remember this big black man coming over and trying to stand on my chest so the harness would clip, but we could not get it, so eventually he said "dude, you're too fat, you can't ride", these words are forever etched into my mind and left an impression on me for probably the rest of my life. I was devastated, one of my biggest loves, amusement park rides; had been taken from me. But like always I struggled through the hardship of that day, and pushed off the "loosing weight" to another day.
This is a brief overview of my past, where I came from and where the weight issue started. Please continue to follow my blog as I educate you more on my life, decision, and ultimate decision to go through with the Gastric Sleeve Operation.
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