Good news..

After an hour and a half wait in, what I've now termed the 'hallway of annoyance' I was called in to see Mr Mannur. And this time it was the man himself - it was a rather Santa-like experience.

All I can say is that I would like to see him for all my appointments. Maybe it's because I was his last appointment of the day - but he was very kind and took his time explaining things to me. We went over my history and glamourous co-morbidities and then he said that we would definitely go ahead and apply for funding.

Get this - we are totally on track for the op in February! He did say that getting funding from the Newham PCT is usually challenging with an average time of three months for funding, but apparently I can chase people in the PCT and fight my corner. I've been told to wait a month and then start to find out where I am in the process. I will, most likely, wait until the beginning of the year.

I will not see him again until we meet for a pre-op appointment. So - all was not lost and I was very, very glad that I went to the appointment.

Now, back to the hallway of annoyance. It's so weird - you sit in this hallway outside the consulting rooms and wait to be called for your appointment. The people that are there are all for appointments with Mr Mannur and friends - as that's their 'clinic'. This means you have a mix of pre and post op people. Yesterday seemed to be an even mix of both. The people - oh the people - they're all very East End and were I not grumpy, quite entertaining.

I played my PSP and kept my head down - I wasn't in the mood to strike up a conversation with a woman who explained to everyone that she'd 'had the gazzie band, luv' and a man who was keen for people to know that he'd 'known a geezer who'd been chucking up in the loo for days'. Uh, no thanks.

So - all in all, a good result and one hurdle passed with not much mention of my trick thyroid. Now I go back to waiting..

Oh almost forgot to mention!
Apparently, on the NHS you are not able to choose which type of operation you would like. While your preference is taken into account, apparently, it's up to the surgeon to decide what's best for you. Most people have the adjustable lap band done which I don't want as the thought of it inside me and a port that I can feel really freaks me out. However, my sparkling little polycystic ovaries have caused Mr Mannur to assign me to have a Roux En Y, which is the surgery I was hoping for. You go girls!

I have my follow up appointment with the 'Fat Surgeon' (as I've lovingly started to call him) today at 15:30. I've really contemplated not going as I'm not sure what he's going to tell me, given the talk I had with the other doctor a few weeks ago. BUT I certainly don't want to get lost in the NHS queue. So I will go, but am not expecting to hear anything uplifting or new.

I've also not heard from my GP about the referral to the endocrinologist. I suppose I'll give their office a call and see what I can find out about it. I get so frustrated because you call and no one knows who you are, why you're there/calling or what you need. And the crappy part? They don't care. I suppose, there are so many people assigned to a surgery that they can't care. But every time I go to any doctor here I feel that because my illnesses aren't acute, I have to fight and push and pull to get anything done.

Does my GP know me and my family? Nope. When I go to the Fat Surgeon, does he know me? Nope. Do I ever see the same person twice? Nope. It's insane and slowly driving me mad.

I know people will counter with 'but you don't have to pay for anything' - but you know what? When I lived in America and paid insurance and copayments and all that jazz.. at least the people I paid knew me and didn't have to take the same bloody information time and time again and start at square one constantly. I'd rather shuck out a $20 co-payment and feel like I and my health matter to someone than be stuck in a system where I'm just a number and in a system that is so overburdened that my health is not a priority.

So there.

I've always felt that I was hyper...

Yesterday I had my appointment with the gastroenterologist. When I finally got to see him (well, I say him.. it was a 'member of his team') he started by saying, 'do you know why they wanted you to see me?' To which I replied, 'No, not really.' He said, 'Well, that makes two of us.'

Cue silence from me.

After he read through my notes he said that I'd been sent to him to ensure that I (and my medical history) are fit enough to be considered as a candidate for surgery. We went through my history, we went through my current medications and we went through a lovely physical exam that involved precisely 45 seconds of pushing on my belly.

Let's stop there for a second.

I have to tell you that these appointments have been really weird so far. Obviously, I'm there because I have a problem and am seeking help from medical professionals. Now, to be considered for weight loss surgery (WLS) it helps if you have what they lovingly call a 'co-morbidity'. Which simply means something else other than my weight that will eventually kill me - to not sugar coat it. When you're talking WLS, the more of those you have, the more attractive you are for this operation because let's face it - most of the co-morbs are caused by carrying excessive weight.

When I talk to the doctors, I sort of feel like I'm saying, 'why YES, I do have diabetes and my mother has it too and wait for it, so does my dad! have I mentioned that I also have HIGH CHOLESTEROL? Ha ha, how you like me now!' Like, for the first time, the more I have wrong with me the better, if that makes sense.

That makes me feel weird.

Anyway - so I'm rambling about my history and in a hurry to advertise my glamourous co-morbs, I casually throw in that my GP has recently seen some odd test results regarding my thyroid. Apparently, I'm trying on Hyperthyroidism as a new co-morbidity, although the diagnoses of hyPOthyroidism would have been totally in line with my big fat self.

At that point, Dr Whatshisname's eyes cloud over. Bottom line is that he wants me to see an endocrinologist to sort out the thyroid issues (and get a better grip on my diabetes) before he'll recommend me to the surgeon.

HUGELY disappointing news. Damn thyroid - why couldn't it be underactive instead of over? I suppose it's an overachiever and I should be proud. I am kidding, of course.

I'm pleased to see a specialist and considering he mentioned possible tumours on my thyroid as the cause, I'm super keen. It's just that I'm not really in love with the delay on the surgery that I'm kind of counting on.