On my last blog I left off having scheduled my seminar for bariatric surgery for  December 2013. Time flew by with the holidays and befpre I knew it time came for me to attend the information seminar. I was extremely nervous. Being so overweight I always felt uncomfortable around large groups of people. I knew everyone was going to be there for the same reason yet I was still terrified! I went to the seminar and it was great. I met with the surgeon, his physicians assistance and bariatric nutritionist. They explained the different types of bariatric surgery they performed. Lapband, RNY and gastric sleeve. They explained the risks and benefits of both. For me the RNY gastric bypass sounded like the way to go due to the greatest weight loss, longest studied post-op as it is the oldest surgery and the fact that it resolved most cases of diabetes! The down side of the information session was I learned they required you pay $750 out of pocket for your initial appointment which was an assesment with the surgeon, nutritionuest, exercise physiologist and a psychologist. For $250 you could reserve an appointment and make payments o. The rest or pay it the day of surgery. I paid the $250 that day but set my appointment out till April to pay off the other $500. We are a family of 5 on a tight budget so that was a lot of money to spend unexpectedly. The months seemed to crawl by and I tried eating better several time but it never lasted more than a few days here and there. I did cut down some on my portions. Opting for 1 large plate of dinner rather than going back for seconds. If ally the months had past and I had paid off the balance of my fee for my assesment. The assesment lasted about 4 houra, mostly time spent waiting as each person came I  separately. The nutritionist  quickly explained the goals for eating poat-op and had me right down 5 ways I would achieve them. The psychologist reccomened I upped my therapy to once a week to discuss my fears and get better control of my anxiety and prepare for this big change.  She also had me right these goals out. The exercise physiologist took measurements all over my body and weighed me, I weighed in at 237 pounds. She said based on my build she wanted me to do 30 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week along with weights each day. She said I have a naturally muscular build and that would be my biggest fat burner.  Finally I met with the surgeon. He was nice and explain ed all my options again and said the choice was completely up to me but his recommendation was gastric bypass. I told him I agreed and he looked over all of my work ups I had done through my primary and required a few more blood test and informed me i needed 6 months of bariatric nutrional counseling per my insurnace company that was the end of our talk.  I checked out at the front desk and scheduled my first nutritionist appointment for May.