March 3, 2017: Gynecologist

When undergoing the process to get such a life-changing surgery, you never know what doctors will be on your to-do list.

At the first appointment, another item that was brought up was the need to change my method of birth control. I was on the tried and true hormonal pill option, but the extra hormones increase the risk of blood clots. Hospitals as a whole have increased concern about blood clots, and obesity is one strong factor, so I could understand why they required me to change.

Second, it is suggested to not get pregnant for 18 months after surgery, so getting a non-hormonal implant increased the effectiveness of pregnancy prevention. It takes out the human error of remembering to take the pill at exactly the same time every day for most effectiveness.

Finally, dropping so much weight so quickly makes women particularly fertile. So in order to reach that 18 month goal, patients need to be very careful.

I made an appointment with a new gynecologist, because my current one decided to leave her practice. Luckily, I was able to stress the importance of getting the ball rolling with this appointment so they were able to get me in pretty quickly.

At the appointment, we discussed my options. One was an IUD such as Mirena. I was not a fan of Mirena or other IUDs as I did not want another pain to worry about. Gastric bypasses does affect your intestines, and there are all sorts of things to worry about in that regard (hernias, blockages, etc). I wanted to not have to go through a longer process to arrive at a potential diagnosis for lower abdominal pain.

Another option was a non-hormonal birth control pill, but she told me she would not recommend that to me. It is proven to not be effective in obese women.

Finally there was the Nexplanon insert. It is inserted into the upper arm in an quick, in-office procedure. It took nearly two months from the appointment to get Nexplanon inserted, and it ended up happening thirty days before surgery.

To get the Nexplanon inserted was relatively painless, and my experience didn't even involve much bruising. The doctor numbed the area, and then inserted it, and voila! I'm good for up to three years. I am told that for most women there is not much time needed between removing the implant and being fertile again.

Next appointment: Support Group