Appointment Overload

What a day!

Appointments for me and for my husband, running around all over the country side, catching up with old friends, booking more appointments, just a few of the things from my to do list today, and some that were thrown on there without warning. Consider this your warning that this could be a long update though I'll try to keep it to the important points.

So I had my physician and dietitian appointments today, and let me just say if your going through this process and there is a blood test involved make sure you get it done nice and early. Somehow it got missed with me when we organized all my appointments, it was only due to me calling the office to enquire about it the week before that we found out they were supposed to be done 2 weeks prior to my appointments.

This oversight saw me combining all my breaks into a single 1 hour break and racing down to the closest blood bank to give up 8 vials of blood before running to dome to put something in my stomach and racing back to work feeling a little dizzy and sick. Work was amazing accommodating me in this way and I got through my shift without any dramas which was a plus.

Thankfully all my results except 1 came back before the day so it wasn't too big of an issue, however I highly recommend being on top of it and follow up every step with the office as it will reduce the stress factor 10 fold. My physician was lovely and did my general check up and explained a little about how the surgery day and first few recovery days would play out. She also started to explain how they would likely do an iron infusion while I was in recovery and already had an IV hooked up to reduce the amount of tablets I would need to take as I do have an iron deficiency which I was thinking sounded fantastic.

Unfortunately after saying this she pulled up my results... yeah... I'll be getting my iron infusion done before my surgery date, yes my iron is that bad, woops. Thankfully she gave me a script to pick up the iron and a quick text to my gp and I had information on who to call to get it booked in and done asap, I am soo thankful to have such an amzing gp seriously if your not happy with your current doctor I highly recommend shopping around and finding a new one, I can not stress enough how much my life has already improved just by finding a gp that cares.

Onto the dietitian, she gave me alot of useful information about what to expect after surgery, from what I'll be eating or more accurately drinking, through to what symptoms to expect if i over eat or don't follow the guidlines properly. She also walked me through the optifast diet which I will be starting tomorrow until the surgery. The reason for the diet pre surgery is to reduce the fat around the liver to make surgery easier and less of a risk.

Needless to say when I walked out my brain felt a little fried, and I was so greatful to have had my husband and my mum along for the appointments, there was so much information that 3 sets of ears were definitely better than 1. My dietitian gave my mum her own copy of my recommended diet so she could help me over the next few weeks while we have family visiting from America which I know will be an amazing help.

I was reminded alot today of how amazing my support system is, from friends and family checking in to see how my appointments went, to my best friend in Tasmania offering to do the optifast diet with me so we could snapchat each other our meals and keep each other accountable. Just the knowledge that I have so many people in my corner happy ro check in and offer help and support is so amazing and I am so very greatful.

Some other things that got added to my to do list today were booking in my anaesthetist appointment and picking up my optifast and multivitamins. I also got home to a letter informing me I needed to submit more proof to my super fund on who I am to get my payment due to them still having my maiden name on file instead of my married name.

So a few moments of mad printing, filling forms out while my husband drove and getting my photocopies of my marriage certificate and drivers license signed at the chemist and I managed to throw together all that information and get it in the mail today so fingers crossed that arrives quickly and we can get the money in the account asap so we can afford all these appointments and fee's.

Add in a few coffee dates with friends and family and a crash course on how to look after our pets for our house sitter and you are caught up to this moment as I lay exhausted on my couch trying to write this blog post and remember the key points from today for you.

Moving forward I have a decent amount of appointments left and a super 'fun' pre surgery diet to tackle in and around family fun as I get to know my niece and nephew for the first time. For now though I am ready to crawl into bed with my beloved CPAP and get a good night sleep before the crazy of tomorrow begins.

xx Sarah