A letter to my family and friends

This is a letter that I sent to my dearest family and friends.  I wanted to share it here, too, somehow as a part of the process and experience I am dealing with as I face this surgery.  It is intimate, and honest.
Hi there, my beloved family & special friends,

I thought I would send a little update and reminder that Wednesday, August 11 -- less that one measly week away -- is the very big day that I will go have my gastric bypass, and hernia repair.

Since the beginning of this current adventure, back in November 2009, I began losing weight.  Back then it was sort of informal.  No one at the clinic focused too much on numbers of pounds, or even asked how we were doing with our weight loss.  But don’t get me wrong- there was lots of talking about food, and feelings and portion sizes and food label reading. 

By June things were a little different.  On 6/4/10, Dr. H said,”You will have to lose 30 more pounds before surgery. I have lost 37 pounds total, Since Dr. H's requirement, I’ve lost 27 pounds – good enough to go forward, and enough for my “team” to be proud of my efforts.  YAY!

So, Wednesday morning, at 5:30, I’m scheduled to check in at the hospital for my 2 - 2.5 hour procedure scheduled to begin at 7:30am.  I’ll be at Good Samaritan Hospital and after a little while in Short Stay I’ll be moved to unit “6 Center,” to a specialty surgical unit for abdominal surgeries.  I have heard that I’ll be cared for by specially trained RNs who have won awards for their outstanding care on 6 Center.  I’ll have a catheter in place for luxury peeing, and a pain pump for luxury pain management. 

So there you have it!  Some might say the answer to my prayers, others might say this is something to be grateful for -- a second chance at life.  I say:  I am grateful and I do know that it’s going to be hard work, and that’s after the surgery! I’m looking forward to it!  

Much Love,

Lynn, Lynnie, La, Ba, Noe (depending)