Pew Pew Pew

I'm not in the mood to write an insightful blog, so this is going to be kind of rambling.  I wasn't in the mood to write several pages for my law homework either.  Whatever.

So my first fat meeting was on Tuesday.  It took FOREVER.  My back hurt and I sitting around in those hard chairs for several hours.  It made me incredibly irritable.  However, since I was in a fat clinic, the chairs were double wide!  That was a plus.  A PLUS SIZE!!!  GET IT????  Derp.  The first thing I had to do was fill out some stupid paperwork, then they took my weight and measured my body fat, then took my measurements and my picture.  They did a front and side shot so I'll have something to compare with later on.  All the ladies at the clinic keep saying what a great smile I have, but I can't see it behind the fat.    I had to sit through an hour long deal explaining each of the surgeries, lap band, sleeve, and bypass.  I was trying to guess what each person was in for, and I was only right for one them.  This woman who was about 500 pounds was going to get the sleeve (I thought bypass), a 300 pound man wanted the band (I figured bypass for that one too), and a 250 pound woman wanted the band ( I got hers right).  I was also trying to guess if anyone in the office had gone through weight loss surgery.  I guessed none of them had, but found out today 2 of them have.
The lady doing the meeting was really nice and she gave us a lot of detail, which was nice.  I didn't know you couldn't take any anti-inflammatory pills after the surgery because they'll eat a hole in your gut in a matter of hours.  You can only take Tylenol or get shots from your doctor.  I love Aleve, but I'm cool with Tylenol and god knows I'm not afraid of shots.
After the meeting I had to wait forever to talk to Mel, the insurance chick.  My coverage is actually really good, and one of the rare policies that covers the sleeve.  HOWEVER, she totally popped my bubble when she started talking about how my documentation of diet and exercise probably wasn't precise enough, and I'd have to go through another 6 months of doctor supervised shit.  I find that infuriating since I've been fighting this for a year and a half now.  I'd be less concerned about it if I wasn't on COBRA right now.  My last month for COBRA is December, and if I can't get the surgery by that time, my policy will switch and I'm not sure what their requirements will be, and if I have to start over AGAIN, I'll be livid.  Fat and livid.

This morning I had my surgeon visit.  They weighed me again and did blood pressure and shit.  Despite my disgusting fatness, my blood pressure is really good.  That's something I suppose.  So the doctor went through a lot of stuff I already knew about, but he also said a lot of that I found kind of comforting.  He was talking about how the top of the stomach (the fundus) is where the nerves that make you feel full are.  The stomach is about the size of a football, and sometimes it can take someone a couple plates of food before they feel full.  I feel hungry ALL THE TIME so that made me feel a little better about getting the hunger grumps so easily.  He also talked about the percentage of excess weight that can be lost with surgery.  The average for bypass, over a 5 year period is around 50 to 60 percent.  (I think that's what it was, Dee can correct me if I'm wrong).  I don't feel like getting out the paperwork to check.  He said the average weight loss with weight watchers was 1%, or maybe that was the success rate.  I don't remember.  Whatever it was, I felt a lot better about having it done after talking to that guy.  He thinks my complications will be very minimal since I haven't developed any obesity related illnesses yet.  Other than high cholesterol.
The surgeon signed a paper that will be sent into insurance now, and I'll just plan on seeing my family doctor monthly until I hear from Mel.
I called to schedule a sleep study today to sort out the restless leg deal, and I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

So that's my update.

On a lighter and unrelated note, I had my first voice lesson today.  My teacher is very eccentric.  She's a broken down 70 year old diva.  She was an opera singer in New York for 25 years.  I'm not sure how I feel about her personality yet, but I can tell I'm going to like her technique.  She was teaching me a new warm up designed to focus my sound, and she stops me after a bit and goes, "my god, you have out of this world potential!  I'm going to have fun with you."  That made me feel pretty good, considering I've felt like a piece of crap lately.
Later in the lesson she said said she couldn't sing me any examples because she hasn't sung in years and just lost the ability to do it.  She said, "you're just going to have to trust that I was really good."  I'm glad I'm finally getting back to using my talent.