Pre-Op Class

Good Morning! I'm actually doing pretty good but I have some complaining to do. Just know that most of this today will be me molly-gaggy! Sorry in advance!

I'm really curious about others' pre-op class and how long it took. I was at the class yesterday for almost 6 hours. Talk about exhausted! I knew it would be a long day but I thought that most of the day would be spent learning, seeing the doctor, etc. Not true, I spent hours just sitting there waiting ... and waiting! I just think that they try to schedule way too much in one day with wayyyyy tooooooo mannnnyyyy people. There were probably about 15-16 other patients there. They told me that the first one in would be the first one out! I'm very sure that was a false statement because I was like the 3rd one there and was the 2nd to last to leave. What??? It was so not fun! First off, we were supposed to be there at 12 p.m. So I thought I was doing good to get there at 11:30 a.m. I was shocked to see others that had been there for a little while. They call you back...one at a time! Ugh! Weigh you! Take your blood pressure! Send you down to the hospital pharmacy for some Vitamin K, Zofran, and Nexium. That, with insurance, cost $100!!!!! I was really and still am having thoughts of, wow, will I be able to afford prescriptions as I go through all this. Not to mention the protein shakes!

Anyways, I spent the next almost hour and a half waiting....yes, sitting there day dreaming into a white, very white ceiling! I didn't bring anything to read or do! Ugh! I didn't think we'd have time for that. I did have my phone but my battery was going down quickly. A staff member finally broke the major boredom by coming out and telling us to follow him...it was time for class! Really? No really?

So here we all go towards the elevators. Sooooo many people tried to squeeze on to it. But a few others and myself decided to wait for the next ride down.

So the class was very informative but they had very few handouts so it was really chalked full of tons of great information but there was no way to keep up with writing it all down. They told us we should go online and download the entire 115 or so page presentation and print it out. More money!! lol I just have to laugh. A month ago or so when I was in their office for my first appointment, they were gathering the books together to take and give to the patients in class. Boy, my timing is bad!

I know I'm doing a lot of complaining but it was mainly because it just seemed to chaotic and there was so much time spent waiting for other people to go through their line. I'm really thankful that I have a doctor that is thorough enough to make sure we understand what it is exactly that we are getting ourselves into.

With that said, I will finish up. After the 2-3 hour presentation, we all loaded back up and went back upstairs to the office. MORE WAITING!!!! Really? Oh my gosh, I thought I was going to go crazy. Talk about being somewhere and not being able to eat anything and gulp down sodas. It was a killer!

Finally, I was called back. We went over all my medical history, etc. Staff member dictated into a tape recorder. Hearing her say everything outloud and quickly...it really made me sound sick. Besides being over weight and a few minor things, I'm really a pretty healthy person. Then I was sent down the hall to see the payment man! He also went over what I have to do for my next two weeks. This is were I wanted to cry. This is getting serious now. lol I have to cut back to 2 protein drinks a day and one small meal in the evening. I know I can do this but AHHHHh! I don't want to. lol But I will!

Also, I was so disappointed to find out that my scale is wrong!!! Yes, wrong! I was showing that I had lost 15 pounds here at home but their scale shows that I only lost 9 pounds. What? Talk about depressing. I don't like their scale! I asked what kind of scale is the best to buy for home. She said a calibrated one. So, okay, I will work on getting another scale. More money! Once again, I laugh! This also means I will have to change my ticker on www.verticalsleevetalk.com. So that makes me sad!

I finally got out of there around 5:45 p.m. and there was still a patient out in the waiting room, waiting to be seen.

There's a few other things that I will touch on later. I have to take my dear child to swim lessons. Have an awesome day!