Pre-Op Tactics

Doctor Brown “getting’ loose.” Hey, that’s what I do when I’m in a good groove at work. After all, that will be me under his gloved mitts in less than two weeks! O_o

I was very nervous about the pre-operation appointment I had scheduled for today. I’m not really sure why, but I was. I prepared myself by typing out a list of questions that had come up about various aspects of the surgery, just as I had before the initial consultation back in November. I also took the time to get all of my notes and paperwork from the three hospital nutrition classes I had attended before getting jump-approval for surgery.

You see, I had expected to have gone through another four months of classes before being able to schedule my surgery. Great West Health Insurance required a six-month documented nutrition class before approving bariatric surgery. No biggie, the classes were through the hospital and were free. I signed up and looked at it as more time to think, talk, and research before making the big decision. The jump-approval we received about two weeks ago for the go-ahead with surgery was courtesy of Gazillion’s new choice of health care provider for NetDevil; Blue Shield.

In all honestly, the classes I have attended at the hospital up to this point really made today a breeze. Having been there monthly for the past four months has made me familiar with the environment and the faces. I already know the team of nutritionists, psychologists, surgeons, and even financial professionals that I will be working with throughout this process. Jody, one of the nutritionists, ran the class that covered the large binder full of my “rules to live by” pre and post operation (which, BTW, was not as massive in page number as I had expected.). She ran two of my previous classes, so today was very comfortable and familiar with her. Liz, the psychologist whom I spoke with at my consultation, and whom ran the class that Jody did not, then talked to us about stress management pre and post surgery. Both making it clear that they will be available to me as a resource moving on, should I need help. Very nice.

I will point out too, besides my lovely wife being there with me today, there was only one other person in class. Her name is Pamela and she shares my surgery date. I get to go first, however, at 7:30am. Surely I will see her in the hospital while I’m there, and it was somewhat reassuring to meet someone who was going through the same thing as me, at almost the same exact time.

Aside from the class I got a chance to speak with Allison who is one of Doctor Brown’s surgical assistants. She answered the rest of my surgery questions and seemed very nice. She also confirmed a fear I have been thinking about for the past few days – yes, I will have a catheter during the procedure that will come out shortly thereafter as long as I’m doing alright. Ugh… I’m assured that it’s nothing to worry about, but honestly that sounds worse to me that actually being cut open. Ha! ‘Sure, cut me up inside, but keep that damn tube away from my pee-hole!’

Strangely enough I only talked with Dawn in passing. She is Doctor Brown’s other surgical assistant with whom I spoke at length during my initial consultation in November. She will be assisting during my surgery and today she re-affirmed my fondness of her by saying, “You’re the guy who was wearing the Star Wars belt buckle, right?”

Last stop was a chat with Melinda the billing manager. She made it quite clear that CBSI does everything they can to make the financial end of surgery as easy for their patients as possible. We were also informed that thanks to our new health insurance plan through Blue Shield, out of pocket expense for us is going to be significantly less than we thought. That definitely helps to ease my mind.

All said and done, today’s pre-operation appointment left me feeling much more confident about my decision. I am feeling more ready then I have yet – and that’s good because surgery is coming up fast!

Up early tomorrow to get my blood drawn for my last work-up. That’s it before the big slicing day!

Officially, so everyone knows, I am having my Gastric Roux-en-Y surgery done through the Colorado Bariatric Surgery Institute at Presbritarian/St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver. My surgeon is Doctor Thomas Brown. Their website can be found in my links to the right.