I have lived in the darkness for so long I am waiting for the light to shine...

Sorry about the delay everyone. I started writing on Saturday but it was my brother's birthday and couldn't finish. Just as I was getting ready to save the draft... my computer shut itself down! ARRRGH!!!! (Yes, that's right, my baby brother turned 20. Does anyone else feel old? Happy Birthday Gene.)

I have news. Finally. After months. And months. After a whole year. And a half. I. Have. My. Surgery. Date. WAAAAAHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Okay everyone, mark you calendars and start the clocks. The date of my surgery will be:

December 14, 2004!

This of course, could change if for some reason my surgeon (Dr. Andrew Lee) can't be there. However, because it is pretty far in advance, there shouldn't be any problem. I'm getting ready to take the time off work, which is turning out to be yet another pain in my butt, and all I have left to do is attend four more classes and lose three more pounds. I'm just a little excited. Can you tell?

So back to business, last week I promised to write about the actual surgery process, so here it goes.

The procedure I'm having done is called the Roux-En-Y. (The doctor who invented it was named Roux and the end result looks like a 'Y'.) During normal digestion, food moves into the stomach from the esophagus. While in the stomach, juices produced in the stomach break down the food into a pasty substance called chyme. This process takes between twenty to thirty minutes, after which the chyme moves into the small intestines for the nutrients to be absorbed.

The Roux-En-Y operation provides a restrictive and a malabsorption method to weight reduction. The stomach and small intestines are reconfigured. First, a "mini-stomach" is created by permanently dividing the stomach, which creates a pouch about the size of a thumb. The two stomach's are closed off with staples. The intestine is then cut approximately one and one half feet beyond the stomach and is attached to the pouch to provide an outlet for the food (the "bypass" portion of the surgery). Now food stays in the upper pouch for about ten minutes and then moves into the small intestine. Intestinal juices from the bigger section of the stomach join the food in the small intestine (creating the 'Y' look). The pouch gives a sensation of fullness over a longer period of time, which is one of the important roles of the surgery. Patients generally do not feel the typical hunger that is associated with dieting.

The whole procedure will be done laproscopically, which means that instead of opening me up, several smaller incisions are made across my abdomen and little finger like thingy's are inserted into my body. These extensions provide a video feed that is sent to the surgeons via a special pair of goggles so he can see my insides better than if I were opened up. The extensions also perform all of the actions required by the surgeon to complete the procedure. Pretty cool, ne?

The entire process takes an hour or two (I believe) and I wake up in recovery! They'll have me up and walking around the first day to prevent any blood clots from taking a swim through my body and finding a new home in my heart or brain, resulting in death or worse, brain damage. (Don't worry, this only happens in .3% of cases.) Most of that day will be spent in bed, pushing a happy little morphine button. Yeah!

The second day, I do a drinking test to make sure there are no leaks. (Occurs in 1.6 - 3.2% of patients.) If all goes well, I begin my first months diet of three medicine size cups of liquid for means, supplemented by protein shakes, vitamins, 64 oz. of water and maybe some Jello or a sugar-free popsicle here and there. I go home after three days and will spend the first week with my mommy at her house.

I'm on a liquid diet for the first month and I'll be walking all the time. The second month I get soft foods like eggs or buttered toast. The third month I get real food again, though of course, drastically reduced portions.

I'll be out of work for 4 to 6 weeks. (Very excited about that too.)

Besides the risks I've mentioned, a few other complication could arise, but are decidedly minor and totally worth the risk. My friend Bonnie got an intestinal virus and ended up back in the hospital for a while. She's lost 70 lbs. so far and is estatic. I could get a seroma like my hero Carnie Wilson did. This is a little wound thingy that doesn't heal properly, is very painful and involves the continuous draining of pus. If I don't get enough protein, my hair could start falling out, but that easily prevented and corrected. I may become lactose intollerant. Meat could taste weird to me. All of this is stuff I can deal with. The benefits far outweight the risks and most people don't have any adverse effects at all!

When I am within 10 lbs. of my goal weight, I can have surgery to get the excess skin removed. I may have to fight for this but I'm ready. Bring it.

That's it for now! Love you all!