My first Post Op Appointment ~ Meet my Surgeon

So I finally had my first post op appointment, Tuesday February 21st, since my Gastric Bypass Surgery. It has been 4 weeks since my surgery so I was excited to see what my doc thought of my progress. Of course I also had some questions – like that is a shocker !!

Originally I was suppose to see my nutritionist prior to seeing my surgeon, but she had to reschedule. So I have rescheduled that appointment for next week. No big deal – I was more excited to see my doctor anyways – lol

That is me with my surgeon in the photo above (not the most flattering picture of us – thanks to Hubby and his not so good camera skills – lol). His name is Dr. Federico A. Ceppa, and he works with the Reading Hospital Weight Management Group in PA.

I liked him from the first time I met him. Can you believe I am older than him? I feel so old. But I like the young doctors – I feel they are fresh and hip on the latest technology so that does not bother me so much – just makes me feel old. What I liked the most about him was he took the time to answer my questions and I always have a lot of them (trust me). In addition to that he smiles a lot and is not one of those stuffy doctors so it made me feel extra comfortable. I smile a lot too – so that worked for me !!

Now don’t get me wrong – even though I was won over by the smiles does not mean I did not do my research either. It is important when choosing your surgeon to do a little digging to make sure there are no red flags. I dug a bit before going under the knife and all was good.

I was excited to finally see him again since it has been 4 weeks since my surgery. But before I got to see him I met with the nurse who weighed me in and took my vitals. Let me add in that stepping on that scale now was so easy compared to the pressure prior to surgery when I had to lose weight to even get it done. It was so nice to not have that weighing over me (no pun intended).

When sitting and talking to the nurse I found out she had the sleeve done on January 19th which was 4 days before my surgery. I asked her how much she had lost since and she said 52 pounds. I was like “Holy Crap” really? Here I am at just about 20lbs – how can that be? But she told me she had a hard time keeping food down and was back in the hospital with some minor issues twice since. She had just returned to work the day before. Prior to this surgery she had the Lap Band done which did not work for her at all – so that is why she had the sleeve done and is finding better success with it so far.

I did notice on her desk some Wheat Thins and was like – “Are you eating those?” she said yes. Now I was jealous – I wanted Wheat Thins !! I was hoping when I saw the doctor he would tell me I could have some too. I love Wheat Thins and now that was all that was on my mind. Crunchy Crackers – oh the thoughts of them – yum yum yum. I held back my drooling cause it was time to see Dr. Ceppa !!

So the first thing I asked him was if my surgery was really done because I was not having any issues. He laughed of course. He was happy with my progress so far and I told him I was concerned I was not losing quicker. He said everyone is different and that my metabolism it slower than most. He told me I would have slow weeks and then all of a sudden see a big drop, but not to worry because it will come off. He also told me that in just 4 weeks my BMI dropped 10% – now how can I complain about that.

I asked about the “Dumping” wondering if it is normal that I haven’t experienced that. Of course it is not anything I want to experience from what I have heard. He asked if I have tried eating Ice Cream. I was like Uh No – why would I do that? I eat the Sugar Free Kind, but not regular. He said at some point I will experience Dumping, but I just have not had anything that has not agreed with me yet. OH great – just what I wanted to hear – I am still hopeful I am one of the few that escape that horror. Time will tell.

Next I told him about the depression hitting me. He said that is normal and explained that it is very common when you take the comfort food away from a comfort eater. In addition to that so many changes are taking place after the surgery such as how you look at yourself, relationships, how your body is absorbing meds, your daily life etc… It all made sense of course and I knew that. (I will do a post all about it soon). He recommended I talk to a psychologist. That is something I will consider if I feel I need to and if I find my mood does not change. I can also talk to my primary doctor as well.

I had a few other stupid questions in between and while asking I was still thinking about those damn Wheat Thins. So my BIG question: Can I eat Now? Drum Roll……answer: YES !! Of course I have to use caution, Chew my food really good, stay away from the bad stuff like sugar and all that Jazz.. Oh Happy Dance – no more Pureed Foods (even though I had been having other stuff lately), but now it was official !! Wooo Hoooo.

So he told me he would see me again in 3 months and at that time I would have Blood work to check my vitamin levels. I was all good with that.

On the way home hubby and I had to stop and take my son to the doctor – he was home sick from school. So we did that and on the way home I was thinking what I would eat when I got home. I wanted a sandwich so bad – so I decided I would have myself a Chicken Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread. OMG that sounded so good and I could not wait to get home to make it. First we had to stop at the grocery store. I ran in to pick up a few things and of course one of those was a box of Wheat Thins. I got myself the Reduced Fat ones.

Now my house is literally minutes from the store, but I could not wait to open the box and have a cracker or two. So I did that and it was like heaven arrived in my mouth. Hubby did not care for all the noises of joy I was making while eating, but who cares – I could not help myself. I chewed those little salty squares of goodness really well. When I got home I had a few more crackers and by the time I thought about my sandwich I was full from the crackers. So my chicken sandwich would have to wait to later.

So all in all my appointment went well and I felt good about where I am at this point and the fact that I can be on an unrestricted diet now (with the exceptions of what to not have) is a HUGE mood changer to me. I cannot wait to go back and see him in 3 months and learn how much more I have dented that ugly BMI of mine.

I keep thinking to myself that it must be amazing for my surgeon to see how he changes people lives and for him to see the changes in how his patients look every time he sees them afterwards. That really must be cool – don’t ya think?