LOOK ALIVE IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

I have my first appointment with a Endocrinologist on 9th Sept to start the ball rolling on my Lap band Surgery. He will assess me to see if there are any other barriers to me losing weight(other than gorging and stuffing my face) like thyroid & diabetes,which I do not have by the way.

He will also put me on the dreaded Optifast diet prior to having surgery, they do this to reduce the size of the liver which makes the surgery easier and of course less weight lessens any complications with the anaesthetic

I've decided I'm going to start a new blog for this new journey and give you all a blow by blow account - warts and all of my experience. I've decided to do this so I have a record of this and maybe it may help other people decide if this is the right thing for them.

I have a surgery date of 21st November, so fingers crossed all goes well for me to have this.

SUNDAY

Thanks for all your kind words of support, it has meant so much to me.

I am getting a little stronger by the day, had a reasonable week with the exception of one day. My main problems are still the fatigue and the pain and many trips to the loo, that my colitis brings, but hey, it could be worse.

I went back to work for a few days last week, I only did part days, it was all I could handle and brought some work home to do. I had to as my boss has been away, as well as my assistant,so I have been feeling a bit guilty about leaving them in the lurch.

I've been doing a lot of thinking on the surgery,I think I'm going to go ahead with it providing the finances hold out. My bills for the last hospitalisation are coming in think and fast and I'm going to be out of pocket by several thousands of dollars. It really pisses me off when you have private health insurance they think they can charge you more than if you went in as a public patient. I feel I get hit doubly.

The surgery seems the best way for me and I feel it's meant to be. I have struggled all my life with weight loss and now I seem to be running out of time - I need to do something and do it fast. I never had any preconceived ideas about the surgery, I have never viewed it as the easy way out. My opinions have always been that people need to do what works for them from a holistic point of view.

Personally, I would never have Gastric Bypass Surgery simply because it cannot be reversed and it's major surgery for the morbidly obese. The Lapband is minimally invasive as it's done by keyhole surgery,recovery time is a couple of days and it can be removed if it needs to be without any detrimental effect to my stomach.

Sure I'm nervous about having it, but I'm backed into a corner I just have to do it, Will it fix all of my problems - no, but it will make them a lot better.

I'm too young for a motor scooter!!!!!

ps have dropped 1.4kg (3.08lbs) since my last weigh in - not bad considering I was in bed for two weeks and eating three cooked meals and two snacks a day in hospital.

HOME - AT LAST

After two long weeks in hospital, I finally came home yesterday. To say I've been "through the mill" over the last two weeks is an understatement.

My condition was more serious and out of control then even I had thought and it has scared me quite a bit - seems I'm not infallible after all.

I was given a complete overhaul by my Doctor, I had 2 MRI's,a bone scan, a colonoscopy,gastroscopy,barium swallow,bone density, not to mention donating a litre of blood for blood tests.I had consults with Immunologists,Orthopedic Surgeons and Upper GI specialists - god know how much this is all going to cost as I went in to a Private Hospital - at least my insurance covers the hospital accommodation at $800.00per day - FARK!

We did get some answers to some things, my bone problems are not solely a condition of the steroids, but more related to my immune disorder. My immune system is fighting my body and attacking different parts of my body primarily my joints,colon and eyes causing different problems in each area.

My foot isn't fractured as first diagnosed, is it just being attacked by my immune system causing inflammation and fluid build up between the joints and severe degeneration of the cartilage in the ankle and foot joints. The orthopaedic surgeon I saw told me the best thing I could do was lose weight - DOH! What a surprise - NOT! He told me when we walk we exert 5 times our weight on our joints, so me at 127kg is exerting over half a tonne everytime I take a step - how scary is that!!

The other bad thing is I cannot do any weight bearing exercise at all, I was told strictly non weightbearing like stationary bike or swimming, not only for my ankles and feet but for my back as well,in fact I was advised by two Dr's to seriously consider getting Lapband surgery in an effort to reduce my weight as I was wasting my time dieting on my own. I was given all the information to read about and have to give them an answer when I go for my follow visit in 3 weeks, so I have some thinking to do.

I'm feeling kind of shot at the moment, as part of my treatment I was given 3 IV infusions of steroids. I usually take 10 mg a day - I got 750mg a day for 3 days straight. It's left me feeling shattered and bloated and feeling more of a beached whale than normally. Even though the scales say I haven't put on any weight I feel like a Sherman Tank.

OK, better sign off as I'm getting really tired and sore, thanks for all your wonderful support, I'll be back soon.