Weight Loss Surgery

I went to a seminar last night to discuss weight loss surgery. As the mother of two relatively young children, I need to consider drastic action now. I have a BMI of 51 and soaring high blood pressure. Sleep apnea is causing me to wake up at night. Now is the time.

Is it the easy way out? Some people say so. I need to get my body moving, yet I can’t exercise for a long enough period of time because of my weight. How is that for a catch-22? I can’t walk fifty yards without feeling like my heart is going to give out, and walking up and down stairs is difficult. My breathing is heavy after minimal exertion and I was sicker last winter with asthma than I want to remember. I feel like I am running out of time.

Of course, I spent a long time eating carelessly. I need to change that as well. Dieting does work to a point. Doing Nutrisystem, while successful, is too costly. Portion sizes and better nutritional choices need to be my priority.

So I took the first tentative step. I went to a Healthy Weight Solutions seminar hosted by Dr. Northup, a congenial man who did a fellowship in bariatric surgery. He talked about the band, the sleeve, and the bypass, and the differences between the three.

I love the idea of the sleeve, a restrictive procedure, because there is no foreign body, and it does not change the digestive process. However, it is not FDA approved and so is not covered by my insurance policy… so that one is out.

The band is also a restrictive procedure, but it requires the band and port to be internal, and that worries the nurse in me- what if I react to it? It can also be dislodged and there are other issues that I need to content with, like more frequent hospital visits. Not crazy about that since I work for a living. It is completely reversible.

The bypass is restrictive and malabsorptive, and changes the way the body digests food. Life-long supplements and risks, but the response is tremendous- 95% of hypertension eliminated, compared to 40% with the band.

Decisions, decisions….

I will sit down with the doctor in about two weeks, and we will go from there. I am leaning toward the band, with a more gradual weight loss, but have not ruled out bypass and the huge impact it could have on my medical issues.

I hope I am divinely inspired, cause I am not sure what to do…

Licensed to Drive

My daughter got her license to drive today after a VERY brief driving test. I remember my test being more substantial. Taking longer. The longest part of the experience today was waiting on line to get her license photo taken...

Now I am supposed to let her drive... Alone. As in without an adult. By herself. Even when it rains. When there is fog. In the snow.

This is nerve- wracking...

She is, after all, my baby and there are some horrid drivers out there...

I miss mass transit...

The Butterfly Benefit

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a genetic skin condition in which the proteins of the skin are reduced, formed incorrectly or missing entirely. This results in blistering and wounds for those born with it. Depending on how severe the case is, it can be debilitating and even fatal. The children are "butterfly children" because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly's wings

Leslie Rader is a volunteer for DebRA of America (www.debra.org) and runs the New Family Advocate program that helps families who have a child with EB. Leslie and her husband Bryan got involved in EB after their second daughter, Lauren, was born with a fatal version of the disorder.

Today was the annual fundraiser Leslie has in Louisville Kentucky. Held at the Olmstead, the event included a silent auction, a fashion show, a quilt raffle and a nice lunch. The day was beautiful and the event was a huge success with over 200 people in attendance.

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Accidents

On Tuesday night just after 7pm, my daughter called me, upset. She and her 4 friends were traveling on a local road when the driver went off the road and hit an electrical pole, snapping it. The pole fell onto the truck they were traveling in, but the connected wires arrested its fall.

I asked my daughter if she had called 911, while rushing my son to the SUV. She said they had and began to cry. I urged her to listen to me, that I would be right there. The crash site was about 2 miles away.

I was halfway there when the medic called to say Liz was on a long board and did I consent to transport? I asked if he could await my arrival, that I was only moments away.

2 miles has never been so long.

John saw the lights. "There it is Mommy."

I had him stay in the car and went to find my daughter. I could see the fallen pole straining on the cables, but could not see the pickup. For this I am grateful.

Three of the teenagers were sitting on the back bumper of the ambulance, and a police officer was standing with one of the medics. I interrupted their conversation to ask for Liz, telling them she was not one of the girls sitting at the back of the ambulance.

They advised me she was inside the squad, and as they opened the door, I caught sight of my baby strapped to a long board and wearing a C-collar, blood caked in her hair. Her friend stood at her head, in her line of vision, his nose bleeding.

Liz was awake, and I asked her to do everything the medics told her to, and that I would meet her at the hospital.

Her friend came down off the ambulance and hugged me as he broke down.

"I am so sorry," he told me.

I hugged him tight and told him he needn't apologize- they were all alive and that was all that mattered.

I dropped John with a friend and another drove me to the emergency room, stopping on the way to pick up my daughter's good friend- I knew in the instant information age she would think the worst if she couldn't see Liz.

It was a long night in the ER. Head and neck X-rays, a CT- it was hard to explain to these teenagers that not being the first one treated in an ER was a good thing, that it meant they were stable and could wait.

The five of them were in pain. None had been wearing a seatbelt. One boy had some abrasions running down his arm, both he and Liz were missing shoes...

It was after midnight when we were discharged. Liz had dizziness from the concussion, neck pain that was likely whiplash, a lump on her head, and small cuts at her hairline.

It could have been much worse.

But I feel old.

FDNY

In honor of my friend Abby chatting up a hot fire fighter in Brooklyn today, I have decided to discuss New York's Bravest.

I never understood firefighters. The whole running into burning buildings to save people you don't know... I don't get it... Having been in a fire as child, I have a tremendous, perhaps irrational fear of fire... so I have tremendous respect for these men (and women)...but I would never date a firefighter. The fear is ingrained in me.

I worked as a temp at Metro Tech- did medical referrals for firefighters, chaperoning exams, doing PPDs and vaccines and such. And in 2000, I oversaw the urine drug screening at the firefighter test. In the six months I worked there, my admiration for these brave men grew. They were still little boys- there were no female firefighters working the test- and they were kind and chivalry was alive and well...

These men worked hard, played hard, and were one big family. They teased one another, told fascinating, terrifying stories, and made me grateful every day that there were brave men willing to do this job- and love it.

Larry, Tom, and Walter were in charge and oversaw the FDNY side of the test. Walter and I shared a love of the same author, and Larry and Tom teased us... working with these men, glimpsing at that life, was a gift- to be one of them, sort of, was wonderful.

So on 9/11/01, I prayed for these men I met, and all their brothers. Over 300 were lost among the 3000 dead. The wall of the fallen at Metro Tech doubled in size in a single day.

Dennis, Michael, Ray... just a few of those lost but they were firemen I knew. From the neighborhood. They died doing a job they loved. When Michael's body was recovered, they found that his last act this side of the grave was to open his coat and wrap it around the woman he was leading out of the towers. How can anyone be that brave? That selfless?

Firefighters are that brave. And I am thankful every day.

Haiti and the Israeli Field Hospital

Yitshak Kreiss, M.D., M.H.A., M.P.A, was the commander of the Israeli Defense Force field hospital in Haiti. In ten days of operation, his team treated over 1100 patients. By the time they left, other facilities were up and running, able to take over.

Today I heard Mitchell Schwaber, M.D. describe the time they spent in Haiti after the earthquake on December 12 that killed over 200,000. 86 hours after the earthquake, the hospital was up and running. Each patient had an electronic medical record with their photo.

The Israelis were joined in their efforts by Canadian nurses and Columbian surgeons. They used Moroccan casting material and Haitian-made orthopedic screws. They preformed lab tests, x-rays, surgery and delivered babies. They had an ethics panel to make the hard choices necessary in a disaster

After surgery, doctors worked the phones to make miracles happen. Their patients were transferred for additional care to a US surgical ship and hospitals in Miami and New York. Patients that were well enough went home.

All the care was free. In Haiti, where poverty was overwhelming, individuals received amazing, life saving care, regardless of the ability to pay.

Dr. Kreiss, on the day they were leaving, told his team, “Hope is the antidote to the despair of disaster” These amazing men and women gave the people of Haiti hope.

I for one am grateful.

The kids

So I am sure everyone brags about their kids- it is natural, we all think our kids are the best on the planet. I, like many, wonder and worry about what the future holds for my two major contributions to this world of ours. What great things will they do?

This is my favorite Cub scout and youngest child- sporting a recently lost tooth as well as a cheesy smile. He gives the best hugs, does all of his chores and is a big hearted little man.

My teenager is kind and amazingly beautiful- it really is hard to believe I had a hand in creating this beauty. She is a girlie girl- so not me- and I was never that thin and shapely... ever.

My children can exhaust me, exasperate me, and drive me crazy at times (though some might argue I was crazy to begin with)- when the light sabers and clothes litter his floor and she has an assignment that still isn't done at 11pm.

All that matters not at all when I get my hug and kiss goodnight, or when a quiet child slips under my covers asking me to sing the song that brings sleep. Parenting is hard. But it is totally worth it.