Hello Everyone.
I am Barbee, married to Charlie for 41 years on the 14th of this month. Charlie and I have two grown children and three teenage grandchildren. We LOVE being grandparents. Our oldest granddaughter will graduate in May 2015. Then off to college, I am having a harder time thinking about that than her mom, our daughter, is. We are blessed that our grandchildren and their friends, enjoy spending time with us.
I am scheduled for RNY on Sept 23. I am so excited, I have not stopped smiling since I got the surgery date last week. I have been wanting this surgery for 5 years now. I checked into it two years ago, found the doctor, met with him, went to seminar, then husband had a set back with his health. He has End Stage Heart Disease, and went into Renal Failure. By the time he got better and I thought it was safe to go through with surgery, the surgeon had closed his office in MO and moved it to FL. So I just took a step back and took it as a sign it was not a good time. My husband took another bad turn in Dec 2013 and was sick till June of this year. He is doing really well now. In June, I was having a conversation with myself, yes I do that from time to time. What could I do to make it easier on taking care of him? I have been his caregiver for 7 years now. The next day it dawned on me, I could have my WLS and get myself in better health, so it does not hurt so much, trying to help him in and out of beds, chairs, etc when he is having setbacks. So that day, I had a talk with him about going through with surgery. He was so happy for me. I told him, I will be down for a while but our daughter and son-in-law said the will help him if he needs it. He said he will be fine and it will give him the chance to help me for a change.
I called the insurance company June 27, 2014 to verify my policy covers Bariatric Surgery. So I was off. Found the surgeon and hospital I wanted. I got the ball rolling. Met the requirements. Got the call Aug 27, that I was approved for surgery. My pre-op tests and pre-op class is Sept 10th and my surgery will be Sept 23. I still can not believe it has happened so fast. I did not figure it would happen till after the first of the year. So I am bouncing off the wall with excitement. My whole family is supporting my decision and that makes it so nice. Our daughter and SIL are going to help out if my husband needs anything during my recovery. We are so blessed.
Oh and I must tell you. We are going on our first cruise in November 2015. It is a WLS Cruise of the Western Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean - Navigator of the Seas. I are very excited, especially now that I will have had my surgery 14 months before we cruise. My husband does not know, as this will be his birthday and Christmas present this year.
So has anyone else in the group, had their surgery in the St. Louis MO area?
Thanks for letting me join. Looking forward to getting to know more about the group.
