T - 2 weeks

So 2 weeks for today will be the night before my surgery. At this point i will be "all cleaned out" and ready to go, hopefully anyway, I'd rather not be up all night, doing you know what (you're all intelligent i don't think i have to spell it out LOL).

Saw Dr. Hill today. Went over my surgery in depth. When he asked "Why did you choose duodenal switch over the other surgeries" my response was "because i feel it's the better surgery, the one with the better percentage of weight loss and the one best for being a lifelong change" and he was extremely please and told me I "was absolutely right and he really feels it's the best as well". He explained in depth that though it's the best, it is also the more risky surgery. We went over all possible complications, and discussed possible scenarios. He was going to attempt laprascopic but i asked that he just go the open approach, I really feel that i'm better suited to the open approach and this way he can take my gall bladder at the same time. Since i have an extremely strong family history of gall bladder problems (mom, sister and brother) I (and the doctor) think it's best to take it out now, rather than end up with yet another surgery later.
I will be in the OR for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Will be in the hospital 3-4 days. He didn't set any definate goals for weight loss which i honestly like, i don't want to feel pressured to lose a certain amount. The nurse was super super nice today, she weighed me and of course i gained weight, we have been camping and i confess to drinking quite a bit of beer, but she said "don't stress about it, you're going to be losing soon and that's what matters".
I had my pre-op class that answered a lot of my questions about what to expect. The lady giving the class had the duodenal switch 5 1/2 years ago with Dr. Hill and she is amazing. She used to weigh like 319 i think she said and i'd say she's probably 5'7" or 5'8" maybe and she went from a size 4x shirt to a size medium. WOW. First thing she did was pass around her before picture. AMAZING!

My goals for the next couple weeks are to give up my caffeine and all carbonated beverages since i won't have them post op for a very very very long time. I have a lot to get the house in order so i'll be working on that every day as well. I also have to get Faith into a routine for school since that starts the Tuesday after my surgery. So much to do that i will be able to easily keep busy, i like that!

One final note about Dr. Hill. I just like him so much as a person, not just a doctor. Turns out his family does a lot of camping too, they have a camper and are going to be camping next week on vacation in the Thousand Islands area. I LOVE that he's a doctor and takes his family on vacations camping in a camper, to me that means he's down to earth and family oriented. That's what i want! :-)

more soon....