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mousmeI have had a headache for something like three days. It's not bad enough to be a full-on migraine, but it insists on lingering in spite of my best efforts to get rid of it. I have no idea what's causing it, unless something's been going wonky with the barometric pressure. I suppose it might also be because I'm no longer doing my acetaminophen/ibuprofen combo that tends to nuke most of my migraines if I catch them quickly enough. So far I'm doing okay without NSAIDs, but I am a little worried about what will happen if I throw out my back. Usually even the strongest OTC NSAIDs barely takes the edge off, so the idea of only being allowed acetaminophen to deal with that is a bit daunting. Still, no sense in borrowing trouble. I've managed a month almost to the day with only Tylenol, and so far I'm doing okay.
Speaking of which, I got a call from the bariatric clinic today to set up appointments with both the dietitian and the behaviourist next month. I am pretty pleased with the speed with which things are progressing. It took a lot longer for KK to get her appointments, but she's medically more complex than I am, and had to have extra appointments with most of the team as well as take a course of several antibiotics in order to get rid of an H. pylori infection (which is apparently more common than we think!). I also think luck has just played a role for me too. I think that because I started the process at the beginning of the calendar year, I'm just lucking out and getting the first string of appointments as they come up, whereas KK started her process a little later in the calendar year last year, so that ma have slowed things down for her as well.
I know it's not a race or anything, but I am anxious to just get this done. I have never been good at waiting, and I am just eager to move past the waiting part and into the "git 'er done" part. Of course, I know that there's still lots to do in the meantime. I have my sleep test scheduled for March 15th, which is coincidentally the day after my appointment with the dietitian, and I assume they'll want the results from that sleep study before they proceed. That reminds me, they want my doctor to do blood tests, so I should book an appointment for that. [hold music plays for a few minutes while I wander off to another website] Okay, I'm back, thank you for holding! ;) Interestingly, the bariatric clinic won't order blood tests for things like A1C levels because then they'd have to be my treating physicians, and they don't have the capacity for that, so they want my family doctor to do it for me, even though the surgery is likely to help or solve any problems I might have with my A1C. I don't currently have any issues, although it does have a tendency to be a little elevated at times. We'll see with the next blood test if it has fluctuated at all since the last time I had it tested back in October.
Once all that's done, I think the next step will be the first meeting with the surgeon to discuss the best surgical options. The bariatric clinic does roux en y surgeries as well as gastric sleeves potentially followed by a duodenal switch. If I can keep off the NSAIDs I will be a good candidate for the roux en y, which as I understand it is a little less invasive and generally produces good results. My own natural impatience aside, I'm a little worried that they'll want to do the surgery at a super inconvenient time like May or August (May is suuuuuper unlikely because it's so close) when I'll have a ton of work to do in the community garden and won't be able to afford to be sidelined. You're not supposed to lift more than 10 lbs for something like 4-6 weeks after surgery, which is going to suck. KK relies on me to haul heavy stuff up and down the stairs, so we're going to have to figure out how to work around that during that time.
Anyway, enough about that for now. I am going to go pop some more Tylenol in the vain hopes that this stupid headache will go away. My coworker has offered to pick up Indian food tomorrow, so I am going to peruse the menu as well. KK doesn't like Indian food so I am very excited whenever I get to have some outside the house.
Speaking of which, I got a call from the bariatric clinic today to set up appointments with both the dietitian and the behaviourist next month. I am pretty pleased with the speed with which things are progressing. It took a lot longer for KK to get her appointments, but she's medically more complex than I am, and had to have extra appointments with most of the team as well as take a course of several antibiotics in order to get rid of an H. pylori infection (which is apparently more common than we think!). I also think luck has just played a role for me too. I think that because I started the process at the beginning of the calendar year, I'm just lucking out and getting the first string of appointments as they come up, whereas KK started her process a little later in the calendar year last year, so that ma have slowed things down for her as well.
I know it's not a race or anything, but I am anxious to just get this done. I have never been good at waiting, and I am just eager to move past the waiting part and into the "git 'er done" part. Of course, I know that there's still lots to do in the meantime. I have my sleep test scheduled for March 15th, which is coincidentally the day after my appointment with the dietitian, and I assume they'll want the results from that sleep study before they proceed. That reminds me, they want my doctor to do blood tests, so I should book an appointment for that. [hold music plays for a few minutes while I wander off to another website] Okay, I'm back, thank you for holding! ;) Interestingly, the bariatric clinic won't order blood tests for things like A1C levels because then they'd have to be my treating physicians, and they don't have the capacity for that, so they want my family doctor to do it for me, even though the surgery is likely to help or solve any problems I might have with my A1C. I don't currently have any issues, although it does have a tendency to be a little elevated at times. We'll see with the next blood test if it has fluctuated at all since the last time I had it tested back in October.
Once all that's done, I think the next step will be the first meeting with the surgeon to discuss the best surgical options. The bariatric clinic does roux en y surgeries as well as gastric sleeves potentially followed by a duodenal switch. If I can keep off the NSAIDs I will be a good candidate for the roux en y, which as I understand it is a little less invasive and generally produces good results. My own natural impatience aside, I'm a little worried that they'll want to do the surgery at a super inconvenient time like May or August (May is suuuuuper unlikely because it's so close) when I'll have a ton of work to do in the community garden and won't be able to afford to be sidelined. You're not supposed to lift more than 10 lbs for something like 4-6 weeks after surgery, which is going to suck. KK relies on me to haul heavy stuff up and down the stairs, so we're going to have to figure out how to work around that during that time.
Anyway, enough about that for now. I am going to go pop some more Tylenol in the vain hopes that this stupid headache will go away. My coworker has offered to pick up Indian food tomorrow, so I am going to peruse the menu as well. KK doesn't like Indian food so I am very excited whenever I get to have some outside the house.
