The Lap Band Journey

I started this journey long before I actually did anything about my decision. For the last year and a half I've been researching the lap band procedure. In July I started to do something proactive. I attended a seminar with my daughter in Morehead City to hear about the lap band procedure. We both made appointments with the respective surgeons and I went for my first appointment with Dr. Michael Bell.

After the initial appointment I received a large envelope with all of the requirements needed. I endured an echocardiagraph, a chest x-ray, a GED, a nutrition consult, blood work, gathered numerous bits of paperwork, weight history and my favorite....a psych consult. All of the foregoing was relatively easy and the psych eval confirmed my belief that all of those in the psychiatric profession really need their own psych!

That said I was pronounced worthy and went for the final history and physical with the surgeon. He asked if I wanted to start the final two week diet of almost no carbs which would shrink the liver and make the surgery easier. I said of course and we picked a tentative surgical date of October 15,2010. Then all of the information was sent to the Insurance Company Gods and I began the wait to see if I was deemed worthy. I felt reasonably comfortable that it would be a yes since I am insulin resistant and have sleep apnea.

A week later I got the news that the procedure was a go. After two weeks of almost no carbs I returned to the surgeon's office to discover I'd only lost 4 pounds. However the nurse said it was still probably a go and to report next to the imaging center to register, consult with the nurse and see the anesthiologist.

My anesthiologist was Dr. Kline. I liked him a lot and felt good about his skills. We talked for a bit and then he asked me to open my mouth wide and he looked down my throat. He told me I seemed to have a small airway and he would be using a smaller than normal scope. He said he thought everything would be fine and we parted company.

When I got back to work that day at the hospital I checked in with the Pathologist I work with. He asked which guy would be "passing the gas" and I said Dr. Kline. A long pause, then "oh". "Oh what?", I asked. Dr. Grimsley then informed me that he didn't want to scare me but at a recent ACLS workshop, Dr. Kline's dummy died. I laughed. You've got to understand and love path humor. We find humor in things that make most people cringe. I worked late on Thursday getting everything completed before the big day on Friday. I went up around 5:00 pm and collected the surgical schedule to see that I was number one on the hit list with a 7:45 am show time. I got home that night and was beginning to vacilate between nervousness and excitement. I was trying to get things ready as well as stress over all of the details.

Tomorrow is the big day.....