CONSULTATION

We arrived on time for the doctor's visit after our beautiful day at the Utica Zoo (all pictures from the weekend will be posted on my facebook profile).

We met with the nurse Kayla and she went through the medical questions, took my weight and my height. After our conversation with Kayla, we met with Michelle who walked us through again the same questions, however, she was able to offer me a date for my surgery!

My surgery will be held on December 8th, 2009. (UPDATED: SURGERY WILL BE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2009)

I will be in Utica on Monday, December 7th, 2009 for pre-op and am required to be on a liquid diet for 72 hours prior to the operation. The operation takes about 1 hour. My stay in the hospital will be 2 to 3 days, then I am required to stay one night at the hotel before I depart for Canada. If no complications, I will be ready to come home. Time away from work is 2 - 3 weeks, depending on how well I heal. My family doctor here in Canada is responsible for all blood work, EKG tests required for pre-op and any prescriptions required for post-op. Tests will be required to be done 30 days prior to my surgery.

After our meeting with Michelle, we then met with the surgeon who AGAIN walked us through the medical questions, had me sign a variety of documents and thanked us, shook our hands and went on to the next patient. The appointment took all about 30 minutes to complete. Also a tip, if you have medical insurance with your work, make sure to have the forms completed (patient information) for the pre-op. Your surgeon will complete the form and send it to your disability management group.

I'm not sure what it is I feel right now...fear, happiness, gratefulness, relief.... it's going to happen, and it's going to happen in the next 4 months. Knowing that my manager is supporting me at work and said that she feels my decision is 'a good news story', puts me at ease. One less thing to worry about.

Wow, this is for real now...my life and health can only improve going forward.

Thanks for letting me share all of this so far. I will keep you updated with any other information if anything comes up.

Your friendly, loving and caring person always,
Deliska ;-)

August 6, 2009 - Utica Zoo

My appointment with Dr Fitzer isn't until 2:30, so Geoff and I decided that we will go spend our day at the Utica Zoo. It's only about 5 mins from the hotel and it has 200 acres where 35 acres of it is now in use. We're off very shortly to have our complimentary breakfast.

http://www.uticazoo.org/