Life is Precious
Have you ever had a death sentence hanging over your head? On January 8, 2004, I was basically given a death sentence. I was told that if I did not make some drastic health changes, I would probably not live more than seven years. I was morbidly obese and a severe diabetic. I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, anxiety, and serious depression. I was not living life. I was completely miserable, along with my three children and my husband. On January 29, 2004, I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. That day, my life changed forever mentally, emotionally, and physically. Through the good, bad, and the ugly, gastric bypass saved my life.
According to the National Library of Medicine (2015), Roux-en-Y gastric …show more content…
The doctor stood and described the surgery and how it worked. There were also former patients at the seminar. The leader of the support group stood and talked a few minutes. She let us know if we had any questions from a patient’s perspective, to please ask. On the way home from the seminar, my husband and I discussed what we had learned. We both agreed that surgery was the best option for me, because there was a good chance all of my health problems could be resolved by having gastric bypass surgery. Of course with any kind of surgery there are possibilities of complications. With the gastric bypass, the larger you are the higher the risk. At that point, we both felt like the positives outweighed the negatives. Once I made the decision to have surgery, I informed Dr. Floyd’s office that I wanted to proceed. Kathy, Dr. Floyd’s secretary, started the insurance process and scheduled me for several tests. The first test was with the psychologist, Dr. Jim Keller, for a psychological exam. The point of this exam was to inform me of how rapidly my body would change and to make sure that mentally I could handle those changes. He also brought to light that there could be a possibility of mental and emotional issues. For example, if you did not have a strong marital foundation, it is possible that marriage problems may arise. Dr. Keller mentioned that the divorce rate with weight loss surgery patients was high. My visit with Dr. Keller went well, and I still felt like this was what I needed to do to get my life back. Once I got approval from the insurance company, I had bloodwork and a chest x-ray done. When Kathy received my test results, she phoned me and we scheduled my surgery. January 29th would be the day of my
Have you ever had a death sentence hanging over your head? On January 8, 2004, I was basically given a death sentence. I was told that if I did not make some drastic health changes, I would probably not live more than seven years. I was morbidly obese and a severe diabetic. I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, anxiety, and serious depression. I was not living life. I was completely miserable, along with my three children and my husband. On January 29, 2004, I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. That day, my life changed forever mentally, emotionally, and physically. Through the good, bad, and the ugly, gastric bypass saved my life.
According to the National Library of Medicine (2015), Roux-en-Y gastric …show more content…
The doctor stood and described the surgery and how it worked. There were also former patients at the seminar. The leader of the support group stood and talked a few minutes. She let us know if we had any questions from a patient’s perspective, to please ask. On the way home from the seminar, my husband and I discussed what we had learned. We both agreed that surgery was the best option for me, because there was a good chance all of my health problems could be resolved by having gastric bypass surgery. Of course with any kind of surgery there are possibilities of complications. With the gastric bypass, the larger you are the higher the risk. At that point, we both felt like the positives outweighed the negatives. Once I made the decision to have surgery, I informed Dr. Floyd’s office that I wanted to proceed. Kathy, Dr. Floyd’s secretary, started the insurance process and scheduled me for several tests. The first test was with the psychologist, Dr. Jim Keller, for a psychological exam. The point of this exam was to inform me of how rapidly my body would change and to make sure that mentally I could handle those changes. He also brought to light that there could be a possibility of mental and emotional issues. For example, if you did not have a strong marital foundation, it is possible that marriage problems may arise. Dr. Keller mentioned that the divorce rate with weight loss surgery patients was high. My visit with Dr. Keller went well, and I still felt like this was what I needed to do to get my life back. Once I got approval from the insurance company, I had bloodwork and a chest x-ray done. When Kathy received my test results, she phoned me and we scheduled my surgery. January 29th would be the day of my