yea, where have i been?

i have been a little busy the last two weeks getting ready for surgery! i have had lots of different appts at the hospital in getting ready for dec 11th! getting my room and house ready for when i get home, sorting clothes, and cleaning is NOT fun! i am so ready for this surgery, like yesterday. i have made it though all the doc appts except for my last nurtrition class next week and an appt with the surgeon the day before the surgery.

i got a good story for you! yesterday was my 4 hour pre admission testing appt (PATA). seriously, i was asked every possible medical question, poked and prodded, and hooked up to all sorts of machines. craziness! well anyway, i gave the PATA people 13 vials of blood. the tech that administered my EKG and took my blood was so nice. she had a west indies accent and i asked her where she was from and she was so surprised that i picked up on it! she was originally from Trinidad and now works at MGH and loves it. anyway, she was finishing up taking my blood and there was 2 others in this small room getting theirs taken too. she bandaged me up and sent me to give her a urine sample. i came back to the room and i saw a woman laying on the floor. another worker there asked me to go wait in the waiting room. i walked out the doors and everyone waiting looked up at me because behind me there was some yelling for a nurse and go fast and lots of commotion. i had a large mangled bandage on my arm wtih blood soaking through and no purse or coat or paperwork and i just sat in one of the only seats left. everyone was looking at me like what's going on? 10 minutes later they let me come back in and finish up! she only had to give 11 vials, WIMP! i saw lots of different people, but the tech that i first saw, melissa, was so nice and gave me a hug and told me that i had to come back and see her after i have lost all the weight. SO NICE :)

well, it's friday and i am having surgery in 10 days and i still haven't heard from the insurance dept yet. i called my surgical coordinator twice and still haven't heard back from her. that makes me nervous!!!!!

cpap update

so i have used the cpap machine for the past week and i have got to say that i enjoy sleeping a lot more lately! i loved sleep like everyone else...however, i never really felt satisfied. it's made such a difference already. i did wake up today with the mask off after hitting my alarm a few times. i really like to sleep on my stomach and it is really hard to do with the mask on. i am sure that when my alarm went off and woke me up that i turned over and took it off. typical rachael doing stuff in her sleep that she is unaware of! (walking, talking, etc) i am looking forward to the nutrition class coming at the end of the month. it's going to be 90 minutes to teach us the first 10 days of eating. what to make, what to have in advance, etc.

until next time...

cpap

my cpap machine right now is my best friend. i love her. i have slept really good for the past two nights that i have used her and it's been so nice! typically people with sleep apnea do not enter into regular cycles of sleep and therefore never really feel rested. they commonly have headaches when they wake up and feel sleepy during the day. i was found to have a severe case of sleep apnea...my sleep study results found that i stopped breathing an avg of 55 times an hour. so the respiratory therapist came over the other day to set up the machine and show me how to use it. the first night was a little rough getting the mask to fit right and stay on. however last night, second use, was so much better and i woke up rested! it's so weird that i have gone this long without feeling refreshed!!! i will update laster on how the cpap machine is going...

meeting with the doctor...again

so i met with the medical doctor again this past week and we went over all my tests and their results and it went uneventful. i have low iron which i have to start taking supplements for now. i started on my cpap machine thursday (see blog titled cpap for more info). i also have started to stock up on supplies that i will need post op. (protein shakes, sugar free liquids, etc)

it's getting close and i am so excited and not nervous yet...which actually is making me a little bit nervous! LOL

getting ready

so i am currently cleaning house, literally. i am getting rid of all the crap in my room and throwing away all the stuff that i am not going to need after the surgery. getting excited!!