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My Story **************************************************************** 01/27/2004: Tuesday was the consult with Dr. Glorsky. It went very well. Had to fill out page after page of documents, but it was ok. Glad I had brought my list of compiled diets (dates, which ones, how much weight loss, etc.) because he definitely needed that. My husband came with me as he is understandably concerned over this procedure. With three fairly small girls, he just can't be careful enough in picking the right person to do the job and most importantly, do it right! He asked a lot of questions, which Dr. Glorsky more than willingly answered which I THINK settled his fears a bit. I have insulin resistance so losing weight is all but impossible right now. He assured me that little problem should go away within WEEKS of the surgery. So, now we wait. He said the letter to insurance goes off on Friday or Monday at the latest. I hope Highmark BCBS gets it early next week so they can get to it and send back the approval!!! I've got all my pre-op tests scheduled within the next two weeks, so he said as long as those are done and back to him, when the approval comes in, he can schedule surgery within a couple weeks! Still haven't told many. Way too much negativity when you tell someone, so why bother! I'll keep you posted on how things are going. Hopefully I'll get to post soon about the approval!!! 02/04/2004: Went to Dr. Glorsky's seminar last night. WOW! It was very informative. It answered so many questions for us. My husband and I were talking about it the entire way home! If anyone is just starting to look into this surgery, his presentation will answer a lot of your questions. Now the waiting is here. The letter to insurance was sent after my 01/27/04 appt. Who knows how long it will take. Hopefully within a few weeks we will hear something. Will update again soon! 02/14/2004: Happy Valentine's Day!!! YEAH for me...got through the entire day without splurging on any candy. WOW...that is such an accomplishment for me. I'm trying to steer clear of "no-no" foods like that now so it won't be so drastic later. 02/16/2004: Did my sleep study last night (02/15/2004). Hopefully I won't have to go back for the second night study with that CPAP machine. Just trying that thing on freaked me out, let alone trying to sleep with it on! I went to the hospital today for the echocardiogram and the UGI study. The echo was nothing. The upper GI, well, no other way to describe that as GROSS! I think those techs take great joy in watching people just gag that stuff down. YUCK!!! So, now that is all done. The only thing left is my psych. study which is this coming Saturday morning and then I'll be done (let's hope so) with all the pre-op tests. Just patiently (or impatiently as it would be) waiting on the approval. I just hope now that I went through all this pre-op studies, that the approval will just come any day and make all those tests worth it! Insurance says it can take up to 30 days for them to make a decision. Irrr....the waiting!!! 03/02/2004: ....and the waiting continues! These insurance companies, what a pain! The surgeon's office says they have been told one thing, then I call and am told something completely different. Supposedly my insurance wanted some questionnaire filled out and faxed back. It was a very basic questionnaire (another good stall tactic for ins. as far as I'm concerned). The benefits are available, I've jumped through their hoops, then give me the approval already!!! It's so incredibly frustrating. Hope to hear something soon as supposedly once this questionnaire is received, the surgeon's office can then call to get approval. They are busy with patients today so won't probably call BC/BS until tomorrow. UGH, another day to wait! 04/17/2004: Well, Highmark denied my claim saying they wanted six months of medically supervised diets. I had heard this might become an issue so started that end December. Won't have the six months completed until late June. So stupid...all this waiting. All the while with the temperature starting to climb, I'm already starting to get uncomfortable! I know now that even by waiting for the six month thing, I won't be able to get surgery much before August. I know in the grand scheme of things, that's only a few months away, but who wants to wait any longer. Another summer of feeling and looking awful. I just hope that once I submit the six months of "supervised diet" documentation, they won't come up with some OTHER excuse to deny me again. I'm just so sick and tired of being unhappy. I guess I'll just continue this stupid game they want me to play and hopefully it will pay off. The emotional head games these insurance companies makes us go through is ridiculous. VERY annoying. 06/22/2004: I finally finished my six months of "medically supervised diet" and have faxed all that paperwork back in to Highmark along with a letter from my PCP summarizing the "diet" process and agreeing that the surgery would be the best thing for me to get rid of this weight. I faxed it and then called them to confirm they got it. I asked if it was going to take yet another 30 days for them to make the decision and was told "no, not at all". I doubt that though. We'll see. I've got my fingers crossed! 07/02/2004: Well, I'm trying to leave Highmark (BCBS) alone so I don't make them angry and give them reason to deny it! I just had to call though. They have had the newly faxed information for a little over two weeks now! I called and they said it was "still pending"! AUGH!!!!! More waiting. 07/15/2004: They have had the new info for over three weeks now. What the heck is taking them so long! I should have known when I initially asked if it would take 30 days and they said, "no", that they were not exactly honest! I let the customer service guy know how frustrated I was though. I told him that I envision them sitting at a desk with 31 big in-box trays, all with days on it and that whatever day they received paperwork, they automatically put the file in the tray which is one day before the 30 day mandatory response time cut-off date. Of course he didn't agree, but I told him I wouldn't expect an honest answer from him anyway. 07/20/2004: Today is exactly four weeks on the calendar from when I faxed the paperwork to Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I couldn't stand it so I called again. I got a customer service rep. that I have talked to before. My husband's company has a dedicated member number to call when you need answers on insurance matters which is nice because you tend to get people you've talked to before and don't have to re-explain yourself again and again. I told her why I was calling and she said, "well, let me just look to see if anything has been done". She came back and said, "well, it went to our approval department so you should get your approval letter in the mail next week". I said, "WHAT"? I had her repeat it at least three times because I just couldn't believe it! I'M APPROVED!!!! I instantly had tears running down my face. Tears of joy! I told her she had made my day. She told me I had just made hers as well! I hung up and was still in disbelief. Had to call again to talk to another rep. about 30 min. later to make sure I was told the same thing! Sure enough, it was approved. I am staying up at my parents' during the summer so the kids get some good "Grandparents time" so I came out of the office with tears running down my face when my mom (who has been very supportive of all this) came walking out of the living room and said, "what's wrong"? I just looked at her and said, "it was approved"! We both cried for a few minutes. I then called the surgeon's office to inform them so now they are going to get the ball rolling so I can get a date. She believes he may still have some dates in late August which should work out great because I won't be back with the kids for another couple of weeks so I can get a few things in order before surgery. Of course now comes the "fear aspect", too! The fear of it not working is probably my biggest fear. I have watched my intake and exercised before with no luck. I have to believe it is just going to work! I have pictured myself thin so I keep doing that for motivation. I will update again when I get a date! OH HAPPY DAY!!!! 07/22/2004: I am still on vacation up at my parents'. Today was a very emotional day. My mom had an identical twin who passed away earlier in the year and today is their birthday. Very tough day to get through but we'll do it somehow. On a better note, I got my surgery date. Helen called me yesterday with a date of Thursday, September 2nd. I'm excited and scared all wrapped up into one. Helen told me to call their office after we get back to get his last pre-op appt. taken care of. I guess not only will I have that, but will do my pre-op paperwork at the hospital. I still cannot believe all this is going to actually happen. I never thought it would. I'll update again once I have that pre-op visit! 07/26/2004: My husband called me today and said he set up the pre-op appointment for Friday, August 27th. He had planned on going with me so I figured it was easier for him to schedule it according to his schedule! I believe after the appointment with Dr. Glorsky, we'll head over to the hospital and do the pre-op paperwork and whatever preliminary tests I have to do. Hopefully it's not too much! Needles are NOT my favorite thing at all which is one reason hubby goes with me for stuff like that! 08/12/2004: I can't believe that three weeks from TODAY is the day!!! I'm so excited, yet so scared at the same time. The time is probably just going to fly by. Now that the kids are back in school, the days just go so fast! We still haven't told too many people about the surgery. Only my parents, my sister and one cousin know about it. The topic of WLS has come up from time to time with friends and/or relatives and some just have such a negative opinion about it, so I figure why get them all wound up and have them start tossing negativity at me. I'll just let the "power of the picture" speak for itself when they all see me next summer when I go back up home again! 08/25/2004: Surgery date got moved. Bummed. A family emergency for the doctor which of course could not be anticipated. These things happen. Of course it messed up his entire surgical schedule. They had a date of 09/14/04 but that didn't work well for my husband's schedule. Ideally he wanted me to wait until the very last week of the month. Sorry Charlie...I'm not waiting that long! So, Helen got me a date of Tuesday, September 21st. I looked at the calendar and said, "ugh, another month now". Next week will seem better when it will be three weeks. "Week" always sounds better than "month", at least pre-op wise! Helen said she'd have to call me back with a new pre-op visit date. My surgery now is going to be at Memorial Hermann instead of at Twelve Oaks. Seems as though he has decided he wants all his patients to be at the same place. Probably easier on him. All the same, didn't matter to me. The hard part is keeping it quiet for another month! We've opted not to tell a lot of family or friends so this delay just means we have to zip the lips that much longer. I don't think I'm all that nervous, yet, but maybe in some ways I am. I've gotten very "short fused" as of late and things that I normally just let slide are like major issues. Very emotional for whatever reason. Maybe that's how my nerves are dealing with it for now. I don't know. More later when I get my other dates. 09/15/2004: Got a call from Helen today. She wanted to fax me some stuff to fill out and bring with me on Friday. When the fax came over, I looked it over and thought for a minute I was back in school taking a final exam! It's a knowledge assessment which I think is a good thing, but would suggest that maybe it be given a little sooner than maybe just a few days before your surgery. I think the purpose of it is to just make sure you know what you are getting yourself into and that it's not just some quick fix surgery that you can then go back to eating whatever you want afterwards. Some questions are very simple, the no brainer type, then some are harder and you have to go find a source and look them up. Somewhere in that faxed stuff it said that it was being given so that if you wanted to back away, you could. Well, that's why I tend to think that maybe this "test" should be given earlier. Why go through all that pre-op testing if you then change your mind. I'm fairly certain that most people are not going to back out after seeing those questions. I think if a person has gone so far as to visit with a surgeon, he/she has looked into the procedure and knows what it is about. Got it done though. He did say that he has found that the more people know about the details of the surgery (pros/cons, etc.) the better results they have afterwards. That's the ticket right there! GREAT RESULTS!!! Now I just have to remember to take the darn thing with me on Friday... 09/17/2004: Today was my pre-op appointment with Dr. Glorsky and then had to go over to Hermann for all their pre-op stuff. While in the office, I got the chance to say hi to another recent post-op patient, AnnaLee. Only got to say hi for a second or two but hey girl, we are going to do just fine!!! I've already met Mindy and her family...another post-op patient who lives very close by! So cool to put a face with the name. So, had the "this is what could happen" talk from Dr. G. Unlikely any of that will happen, but in my opinion, only fair to lay the cards out on the table. Better to do it that way then to not be fully prepared for literally ANYTHING to happen. I know I'm in great hands with Dr. Glorsky. He pays attention to absolutely EVERY detail. No rush to get through surgery - if it takes an hour, two, three, whatever. No bonus for finishing within 45 minutes so why do it that fast and chance a problem later on. Very detail oriented and that is someone I want working on me. After talking to him a while, then we had to hurry over to Hermann for that appointment (just barely got there in time but hey, we made it!!!) The pre-op at the hospital wasn't really bad. I think we were there a total of an hour and 45 minutes which I didn't think was too bad. Sat in the main area for no more than 15 or so minutes and then got called back to go over my paperwork with the nurse. She stickered the heck out of this mound of papers (your name, doctor's name, etc.), then basically went over some of the written information. I then had a quick EKG done which was fine as well. After that, the person on duty from anesthesia came in and talked to me. I have a HUGE, and I mean HUUUUGGGGEEE anxiety about IV's! So much that I will literally start to hyperventilate just knowing it is going to happen. We talked about that and what we can do to relieve some of the anxiety ahead of time. He checked the veins in my hands and said all looked ok. After he was done, another nurse came in and she had....the vampire tray! Yikes! Blood work, yuck! I think that stupid rubber thing they tie on your upper arm hurt worse than the darn needle. She looked for a vein in the right arm and couldn't find anything so I told her not to go fishing and to look on the left as that one tends to be better. Sure enough, she hit it good and a few minutes later we were all done! After that was over, went over and had the usual couple of chest films taken and I was on my way. I thought the amount of time there for all that stuff done was really good. Plus, as an added bonus, those nice ladies validated my valet parking so wasn't out the $10 for that either! My sister gets here on Monday. I'm so relieved! I know my two older girls will get off to school on time and that my toddler will not have to spend all that time down there at the hospital. She's going to be more comfortable here at home anyway. Starting to get very nervous.... 09/19/2004: Holy cow, what an emotional rollercoaster I am on. I just want this thing to get over with so I can stop worrying. I'm very edgy. Biting the poor kids' heads off today so everyone is staying away from mommy! My sister gets here tomorrow morning from Illinois. I'm so glad. I already told her I've been very "weepy" this weekend. She said, "you know, if you WEREN'T, I'd start to worry so I'm sure that is very normal behavior". She will be here to make sure my two older girls get off to school and my toddler is taken care of during the day. SOOOO glad for that! Dr. Glorsky said the first night will be in ICU, as a routine thing due to some meds he uses, so not to be worried when the area says "ICU". Good thing to know ahead of time! With that said though, I don't think I want hubby to bring up my kids. I only intend to be there a couple days and since the hospital is fairly far from our house, it's just better for my sister to watch them and then they can see me when I get home! I want to get some sleep tonight. I've really been freaked out lately and not sleeping. Enough of that. Have no idea why I'm so worried because Dr. G. is the BEST so there shouldn't be any problems. Tomorrow I'm going to start getting into that "panic mode" about the whole IV process, I just know it. Good grief, by the time we get down to the hospital, I'll probably be so sick to my stomach it won't even be funny. I dread that recovery room "warp time" too! You know, where they are talking to you and you have NO CLUE who is saying what, but you keep hearing some naggy voice tell you to wake up, that surgery is over but you are so groggy you just cannot bring yourself to open your eyes!!! UGH!! I know it is all going to be worth it but still... Can't wait to be on the loser's bench! Hoping at least for a good night's sleep tonight! 09/21/2004: Well, this is it. Today's the day. We're off to the hospital soon! Wish me luck!!! 09/25/2004: Holy cow, glad I'm on the "losing side" of things. I am wiped out but everything seems to be ok. Dr. Glorsky came out and told my husband it was absolutely "textbook" so no unforeseen problems or odd things to come up during surgery. These protein drinks, I'm sorry, they are all just NASTY! Broth and sugar free jello are about the only things I can say I like. The pain medicine is liquid and that too is so gross, but I use it when I need to. I've waited a couple times a little too long and then I'm hurting more than I'd like to be so no need for that!!! My sister is still here which has just been so great. She helped out watching the kids while I was in the hospital and now that I'm home, she's politely reminding me to sip, sip, sip! I'll update more after my one week post-op visit on Friday the 1st of October. 09/29/2004: This sipping thing is so hard to get used to! If you take too big of a drink of water, it hurts like ever in your new little tummy. Too hot hurts, too cold hurts! I'm SO used to just tipping my water or tea cup back and takin' a big ol' drink! For those of you thinking of doing this surgery, you'd better get practicing on that because hard to get used to! I can sip about a teaspoon of water at a time, slowly, for three times and then something tells me to stop! Irrrr!!!!! I hope that improves. 10/02/2004: I went to my one week post-op yesterday. I got on the scale and just couldn't believe his scale! It said I had lost 18 pounds since the 21st! I just stood there in disbelief for a minute. 18 pounds. Even without the hell of having insulin resistance, (which doesn't seem to allow you to lose anything) it would have taken me MONTHS to lose 18 pounds! Now granted, I would say any way possible to lose weight besides having to resort to this method is best, but for those who just have had no luck with diets and are at their witts end, at least WLS is there as an alternative for those willing to go through it. I will say though, a couple days before my appointment I had a major "melt down". I had fixed hubby and kids dinner and hubby's stuff didn't bother me to fix (he had a skillet dinner thing with pasta, chicken, alfredo sauce, etc.), but the kids didn't want what he was having so go nachos. I don't mean just simple chips and cheese, but these looked SOOOO good with ground meat (I put it in a chopper so it was the consistency of like Taco Bell meat, so SUPER fine) with taco seasonings mixed in, cheeses, sauce, sour cream, the works. It smelled even better. I knew I couldn't have it and that just killed me. I had to leave the kitchen after they were all oohing and aahing, went upstairs and just cried. After feeling sorry for myself, I went back downstairs, got my shoes on, grabbed my water bottle and went out for a walk. It was just so hard watching them eat something you just KNOW you cannot have! I was SO SICK of the broth, cream soups, SF jello and SF pudding by that point that if I saw another one, I'd probably thrown it out! So, needless to say, after that happened, I just didn't each much of anything for two days which I KNEW was not good for me other. On Friday during my appointment, I talked to Dr. Glorsky about it and we all agreed that it is pretty normal for that to happen. He did advance me to pureed things and I was SO happy for that. I'm sure I'll get sick of this stage too but for now, cottage cheese, soft green beans and mashed bananas never tasted so good!!! I'm sure each day is going to be better and better. When we got ready to leave, I gave Dr. Glorsky a hug. He has absolutely NO idea what he's done for me. I thank God for that man every night. He is NOT like other doctors. Such an incredible person. Until next time... 10/28/2004 Well, I'm at 5 1/2 weeks post-op. I go back to see Dr. Glorsky on November 5th. I recently got in big time trouble from him for not drinking my protein. I know I had it coming to me but it certainly was not done on purpose. I had been feeling a bit on the nausious side for a while. I have later figured out it was simply because my belly was empty and wanting something, but you know how it is, when you are nauseated, you really don't WANT to eat or drink much of anything. I knew if I even LOOKED at another milkshake-like protein drink, that would be it, I would have lost it. I tried, but just couldn't. Well, I had one of my incisions not behaving and just wouldn't seem to heal. I called to just ask and Helen said either he would call me back or she would. It wasn't long before the phone rang and sure enough, he was calling me back wanting to know about my nausea. He started asking about what I was eating (or wasn't in my case) and really read me the riot act for not calling sooner about the nausea as that is not normal a month out from surgery. Great! He also said that if I had an incision area that was not healing, lack of proteins in the body were probably the cause. He wanted to see me last week when I called, but I told him I would try a lot harder and see what progress I could make in two weeks on drinking better. I told him about the problem I was having with the thicker protein drinks and he suggested I try using the Isopure that is more of a juice. Never knew it existed. I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and they had it in individual bottles which is GREAT because you can decide which flavors you like. Each 20 oz. bottle is 40 grams of protein. No way you could just sit there and drink it as it takes me what seems like FOREVER to drink just half. I bought a couple and brought them home. I poured off half (they don't go bad like when you mix up a protein shake where you have to drink it all in one sitting) and thought, "ok, this is it". I took one sip and thought, "oh yuck!" I didn't care for it either, but knew I HAD to make it work. I mixed it with some SF Koolaid. It was MUCH better!!! So, now, that's exactly how I drink it. I might pour 6 oz. of that Isopure in a cup, then another 6 oz. of sugar free Koolaid. I pretty much only taste the Koolaid, but I am also sure to buy ones that are kind of on the tart side, like the cranberry-raspberry, or the cherry, etc. The Cran-Raspberry one is just in a reg. old Koolaid packet and then I use my own sugar substitute. I did buy some of the already packaged sugar free ones, but they are a LOT more money. The ones already done in sugar free don't have as many choices though so since the packets are unsweetened, I can at least pick out what I want! So anyway, I've been doing that. My weight loss had stalled (probably because I wasn't following the rules so to speak) and now I'm down 31 pounds. Happy for sure, but would really like to lose another few pounds before my next visit in a week. Hopefully I won't get in trouble again. I know he means well though and my success is in his best interests so he has to push people to do what they are suppose to do. I'll update again after my appointment next Friday. 11/06/2004: Had my six week post-op visit yesterday. It went well. I'm now -40 pounds and just cannot believe it! 40 pounds! WOW! I'm already in the 240's. The day that "2" becomes a "1" will be something to celebrate (but not with food!). I'm not missing food too much. Sometimes when the kids have a quicky meal of Burger King or something like that, I would love to just take a big ol' bite of their burger, but know I can't. Surprisingly the fries don't bother me (or the lack thereof!). So, he told me to just keep doing what I'm doing, continue working on making sure protein comes first and foremost and be sure to take that Isopure if needed. I'm VERY tired so he figures my B12 is off. We're going to try to find it (no pharmacies seem to have the Rx he wrote) so I can start taking that. He said that should help with that problem. He asked how eating was going. I told him it was ok. Sometimes when the family goes out to eat, it can be a bit depressing. Normally when we used to go out for dinner, of course the logical thing is to look FORWARD in eating out. Something you hope to enjoy. Well, now when we go out, I take literally 4-5 bites of food and am full. I then have to sit there watching everyone else enjoy themselves. I just get so depressed about that sometimes! UGH. I know it's better for me in the long run, but it can still be depressing. Until next time.... 11/29/2004: This past month has been SLOOOWWWW!! Makes me crazy, those nasty plateaus. I was back and forth between 246-248 for three weeks! AUGH!!!!!! I budged a little and am down to 242 which is -46 pounds. I was hoping to be at least -50 by the time I went to hubby's company holiday party this Friday. Close, but doubt I'll make it to 50. I checked my weight planner thing and I'm off by about 9 pounds. It said by the time I was two months post-op, I should have been -55. I was bummed, but have to keep doing what I'm doing. Eating and drinking are getting easier and easier. I try to eat a couple bites of protein for every bite of veggie or fruit. The Isopure drinks have ended up really helping. They still taste icky, but mixing them with the sugar free Koolaid helps. I refuse to drink anything looking like milk-shake consistency, but this Isopure I'm using is like a juice and is at least tolerable. I make sure I get in the 50 to 60 grams of protein a day, plus exercise, etc. so don't know why I plateaued already. Maybe I'll play catch-up and get into a good pattern of continued pounds coming off the scale! We went to Dallas to visit my husband's brother and family for Thanksgiving. I think I was the only one after Thanksgiving dinner who didn't need a nap due to overeating. I found a recipe on the Splenda website for a pumpkin pie and made it. It was SOOOO good!!! I didn't eat the crust though, just scraped out the center. Everyone else ate their higher caloric pies and goodies and I was just as happy with mine. Granted, it did have a slightly different taste than "regular" pumpkin pie, but, if it was a slight difference in taste or nothing at all, hey, I opted for the slight difference in taste. I ate it one time and was satisfied and didn't want any more. Christmas goodies might be hard for me. UGH!!! I'm hoping since I did SO good at Halloween (no candy AT ALL), I'll have the same strength to leave it all behind again. It will be interesting if anyone at the party this Friday says anything about my weight. Even though 46 pounds down is a lot, when you plan on losing 140 or so pounds, it's "only" 46! Some people are bold and just come out and ask, but I think most people probably tend not to say anything unless, of course, it is so obvious and they haven't seen you in ages and you are down 100+ pounds or something like that. His company has another event late Spring so hopefully by then, I WILL be down near the 100 pound mark. I'll let you all know how the party went! 12/05/2004: Hubby's company Christmas party was Friday. Only one person said something. She actually said she suspected I had WLS because the surgery was scheduled, so my husband took planned vacation, then it got bumped backed so he had to reschedule his "vacation" again and when he finally got back from "vacation", he looked like something the cat had drug in because he was tired from having to chase after our toddler (which I do all the time...)! We have still not said much to anyone. If anyone asks, that's different. The only other person who said something was the two ladies who work in his HR Dept. They obviously knew I was having it done as I had to work through them when I first got denied. Of course with both of them being in HR, they don't say anything to anyone due to confidentiality issues. That was it though. I really wasn't disappointed though. I've lost 49 pounds in 2.5 months which is a lot, but, when you look at the big picture and know I have about 100 pounds more to lose! I will see all these people again probably mid to late April so by then, I'm hoping to have lost another 50 pounds. People may ask if I drop another 50. I look at it this way, too, I didn't do this surgery to get compliments from others. Granted, it's very nice for people to compliment you, but I did this for MYSELF and of course my family so nothing else really matters! I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully pounds will keep dropping until I reach my goal weight. A long road still ahead but I'm hoping it's more of a downhill glide after going through the uphill battle of getting approved and then actually having the surgery done! My birthday is in less than two weeks. Hmm, wonder how that day is going to be! Have a great week everyone! 01/24/2005: Hi everyone. Geez, glad the holidays are over. It wasn't hard food wise, but just that hustle and bustle is exhausting. I've done fairly well. I'm -70 pounds in four months. YEAH!!! I go back for my next appointment on Feb. 4th so I'm hoping to lose another 5-10 pounds before going back. The last time I went to see Dr. Glorsky I was -38 pounds (my six and a half week post-op visit) so I was hoping to have double that by the time I went in again which would be -76 pounds. I read some of the message boards for the Sept. forum on OH.com and get bummed when I read a lot of them having lost 80+ pounds when I had only lost like 65. I sit there thinking, "what the heck am I doing wrong". I know we are not suppose to compare one to another, but I do. I have gone through two nasty three-week long plateaus so far. They just make me incredibly crazy. I will go for three weeks without losing even one pound which FREAKS ME OUT. I panic and think, "oh no, has the weight loss stopped already"! After about three weeks though, it will finally budge. I would rather see a one or two pound loss each week instead of nothing each week and then a huge loss when I get off the plateau. After my last plateau, I lost 8 pounds in one week. That whole thing makes me nuts. I went and had my first round of post-op bloodwork done on Friday. I did it two weeks before my visit so then he'll have the results when I go there on Feb. 4th. Ironically I did it on the 21st which was four months to the day of my surgery which was on September 21st. Hopefully all will be fine. My parents were just here this past couple weeks, too. My mom was so surprised to see how much I had lost. Hopefully by the time I see them again in June, I will have lost another 50-60 pounds (or more!!!). I'll update again after my visit with Dr. Glorsky. Until then, best wishes to all! 02/08/2005: My appt. last Friday the 4th was cancelled and rescheduled for today (Tues. the 8th). I fell a bit short of the goal I was hoping for of -76 as I am -73, but he was very pleased with what I have accomplished so far. I'm in YET ANOTHER plateau this week. I get SO sick of those!!! He said my bloodwork looked fine and aside of waiting for one more page from the lab (they forgot to fax one page), if that was ok, then we were good for another three months. My cholesterol went from 359 a couple years ago, to 208 last year and it is now 136! I can't remember the last time my cholesterol was in the "ok" range. My "bad" cholesterol was well below the upper limit number and the "good" cholesterol was getting close. They want a value of 35 or higher for the "good" cholesterol and mine was 32 so it's getting there, eventually! We talked about my hair falling out. Holy cow, it's everywhere. I feel like a shedding German Shephard in the spring! He suggested I add some Flax Seed Oil (Omega-3 fatty acids) so I stopped off and got me some on the way home. I'm hoping that helps. Well wishes to everyone! 02/25/2005: Hi there fellow "losers"! Five months and four days post-op. Hoping the scale starts to move again. I'm in another plateau and have been since my doctor's appointment earlier this month. I'm back and forth on the scale from -79 to -80. Hopefully once this plateau goes the heck away, I can get moving again and hit my first big "milestone". Another 10 pounds or so and that scale will finally have a "1" as the beginning number. I'll probably fall out crying when that day happens. After I hit that milestone, then the next one will be when the scale says 188 and I hit the Century Mark! What a sweet day that will be!!! This week was fun. A few of us from Dr. Glorsky's office got together and we had a bit of a "drinking party"! Now now, no alcohol, but rather trying out different protein drinks that each of us likes. We all had a great time. All of us are at different months out and one still waiting for approval (keep thinking positive thoughts there girlfriend...) so that becomes helpful to everyone. It's like I've gained a few sisters! I love em' all!!! Our support group meeting at the hospital is next Tuesday so we'll all hopefully get to see each other again real soon. Hopefully I can update soon once that darn scale starts the downward slide again! Have a great weekend everyone!!! 02/26/2005: I meant to add this the other day when I updated but forgot so I'll do it now...I checked my BMI to see how it was these days. At the day of surgery, my BMI was 46.5 so technically 47 if you round up which of course is considered "morbidly obese". Currently with my weight of 209, my BMI has dropped to 33.7 which is now in just the category of "Obese"! YIPPEE!!! I've got a ways to go to get into the category of "overweight, but I'm so excited that it's dropped 12.8 points! YEAH for me!!!!! Until next time.... 03/27/2005: Happy Easter Everybody! Trying very hard to stay away from the girls' candy. So far it's been ok as I'm too afraid to eat it in fear of its ill-effects! Weight loss has been unbelievably slow. It's been right at a month since my last update and I'm down to 202 so I only lost 7 pounds. UGH!!!!! It's really depressing me how slow it has gotten. It's been this way for a little over two months now. I'm hoping my body is just trying to play catch-up and then the weight loss will start back up again. I was hoping I would have been -100 pounds by my six month mark. I missed it by 15 pounds. I know I shouldn't be disappointed with 85 pounds, and don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with dumping 85 pounds, but, just can't understand why it has stalled so badly! I still haven't seen that "1" as the first number on the scale. I'm at 202 now so only a couple more pounds, but yikes, at this rate I'll be lucky to lose 100 pounds by the time I hit a year! I did go buy some new clothes which was fun. My hubby kept whining about how "frumpy" I was looking in my 3X clothes (he was right but I was stubborn and didn't want to go buy any clothes), so I bought a bunch of new shirts that were in XL or L! I couldn't believe it. Wow, what a difference smaller clothes made. I sometimes look in a mirror sideways and think, "that's not me"!!! I'll update again if and when that darn scale finally dips under 200. 04/08/2005: OK....DRUM ROLL....THE SCALE FINALLY MOVED!!!!!! OMG!!!! This morning I got on that evil scale and it said 198.8. Ok, I know, that technically is 199, but I don't care, I'm saying 198!!! I finally made it to "ONEderland"...no more "2" as my first number of my weight. I cried for five minutes this morning. A customer of mine (I do Tupperware) stopped by this morning to pick up a lid she needed and I had this red face from crying. She was like, "oh my gosh, is everything ok"??? I told her why I was crying and was so happy and she joined in with the excitement and was so happy for me! It really was a great way to start the day. I mixed up my exercise and upped my protein big time so I think that may have had something to do about it. I am now trying to get in four protein drinks a day (80 grams just in Isopure) and then whatever I get in food, so I'm sure some days are pushing 100 grams of protein. I am now less than hubby, too! Ok, so my next big milestone will be in another 10 pounds when I hit 188 which will be -100 pounds. This surgery is absolutely amazing! You all have a great weekend!!! 05/08/2005: Happy Mother's Day!!! Boy, the weather here in the Houston area was horrible today. Thunderstorms like crazy! I'm at -95 at 193 pounds. Five more pounds to hit that Century Mark. I can't wait!!! For Mother's Day, my hubby wrote out a check for a downpayment on a cruise for next year. It should be a lot of fun. Our 15th anniversary is next year, so we were going to head off to Hawaii during the summer when my parents could watch our three kids. We've decided though to change ideas. My good friend Martha and I went to a support group meeting at Memorial Hermann this past week. We wanted to listen to their guest speaker who was a nutritionist. It's a really big support group though, lots of people. Dr. Glorsky's group is a lot smaller. This group is mostly Drs. Wilson and Scarborough's patients. After the nutritionist was done, one of the patients was talking about a cruise they have put together so a lady from Carnival Cruises was there to talk about it. It's a five day cruise leaving right out of Galveston next May. We've decided to take the kids after hearing about all the day and evening activities that they have for kids. I really wanted to just go somewhere with just hubby and I, but then thought about it and said, he and I will have plenty of time for "alone" vacations after the kids are grown and gone. That happens so fast. So, now is the time to take them on fun FAMILY vacations that they will remember too. My sister has decided to come too which will really be a huge help. She's going to get a cabin and take one or two of the kids with her so instead of us having five people crammed in one room, we'll have three in each. You know, the funny thing is before this surgery, I don't think I would have even considered a cruise. I mean, geez, swimwear or people having fun....not me!!! I really can't believe how much I was a prisoner of sorts in my own house. I never wanted to go out and do anything. I always made excuses for why I didn't want to go somewhere or participate in activities. Things are definitely better!!! I still have a ways to go - around 50 more pounds to goal. I really hope I can continue losing. It's SOOO much slower these days. At the end of the month we'll try the new support group. Instead of meeting at Memorial Hermann, Dr. Glorsky has now shifted his meetings to Methodist. We got notice of the change like a day or two before the next meeting, so it was a bit hard to make plans to go. Our psychologist is now in with the new group and she said it was a lot smaller than the Wilson and Scarborough group. We will now be meeting with the patients from the two Davis doctors. I'm hoping we'll all transition well into a single group. It can sometimes be awkward to merge two groups so we'll see how things go. I've got about a month to lose this remaining five pounds to hit that -100 pound mark before seeing Dr. Glorsky again for my next appointment. I already have all my written orders to go get my next set of bloodwork done as well as a bone density test. I like to do all that a couple weeks before my appointment so by the time I actually go to the appointment, he's had time to get all the results back and we can go over everything. Hope everyone has a great week! 05/15/2005: I had a cool start to the beginning of my week! On Monday, I took my oldest daughter over to one of the high schools to sign up for a tennis "camp" for two weeks right after school is out. When we got to the high school, there was a lot of people already there. My daughter said, "oh, mom, I think this is the Jr. High because our school is here". We were looking for the place where we had to sign up for this camp thing, so I asked this one man watching his daughter if this was a tournament or what. He said, "yeah, but, are you looking for the Cathy Bisby summer camp table"? I told him I was so he told me where it was and asked me if I knew who the lady was as she was evidently there. I said, "no, I have no idea what she looks like". He says, "well, she's about your build, brown hair, pony tail, and always wearing a visor". I thanked him but had this smile on my face as I walked away. All I heard was..."she's about your build..." and thought to myself, "when did I ever think my "build" would be compared to that of a tennis instructor"! It felt so great, and I still have 50 pounds left to lose!!! It definitely made my day. A week before that I had gone down to the school to drop off some food they were needing for teacher appreciation week, when I ran into one of my daughter's teachers from last year. Her mouth dropped and said, "wow, look at you"! She wanted to know how I did it and when I told her, she just said, "good for you"! After talking with her a bit, I left and ran into the principal as she was coming down the hall. She said, "oh my gosh, look at you" and proceeded to ask how I did it as well. It felt so nice but, hard in a way too. I'm not used to getting compliments so when they come, it's almost like you're embarrased to accept them. I need to work on that because good grief, I've worked hard at this so I deserve to get compliments I suppose! I'm kind of stuck around -96 pounds but hey, it's -96 pounds so slow and steady wins the race I guess. I have about three weeks before I see Dr. Glorsky again so I am SOOO hoping to be -100 by the time I see him. Have a great week everyone! 05/26/2005: Went to the new support group meeting tonight. So much bigger than our little group. It has its advantages and disadvantages. I'm still at -96. UGH...so slow. I know I shouldn't complain but I just want it to keep moving downward! I'll keep it short for tonight! Hope you all have a great upcoming Memorial weekend. 06/27/2005: It's been a month since I've updated. I had gone to my appointment on June 3rd. Dr. Glorsky told hubby and I that he is contemplating going back into Trauma surgery instead of doing Bariatrics. I was very sad to hear that only because he changes people's lives by doing this surgery in such a positive way, but, I also believe that it's only fair for him to be happy at what he is doing and if Trauma surgery makes him more happy, then that's what he needs to be doing. IF he definitely gets out, I'll be switching to the Davis doctors, but will ALWAYS consider Dr. Glorsky my surgeon. Ok, enough of the sappy...on a good note, I have FINALLY hit it...the Century Club!!! OMG!!!! I actually hit it last week where the scale showed 188, but I was getting ready to leave for my summer long trip to my parents' house in Illinois, so just decided to take my scale with me so I could monitor things with the SAME scale so the numbers are consistent. I got on the scale today and it is now showing 185. Amazing!!! I weighed 185 when I was fitted for my wedding gown a little over 14 years ago. I was told to lose another 5-8 pounds to get into my gown a bit better, which I did, so I'm just about at the weight I was when I walked down the aisle! So cool!!!! I just cannot believe that 103 pounds are gone. I refuse to say that they are "lost" because usually when you lose something, you want to find it. I definitely don't want to EVER find that again!!! So, I have about 40 more pounds to go. Can't complain, that's for sure. I really have two goals. As I told Dr. Glorsky, I have an "ultimate" goal, and I have a "realistic" goal. My "ultimate" goal is to be around 145, but my "realistic" goal is that if I end up between 160-165, well, then that's fine too. I would like to hit that ultimate goal so then I have a little padded space in case I fluctuate a bit. Right now I'm into size 14 denim jeans shorts and a medium shirt. Nine months ago I was wearing size 26/28 or 3X so to lose 14 sizes in nine months is unfathomable to me. I'm so grateful for this surgery. For once in my life I look "normal" and don't have to worry if people are talking behind my back regarding my size. My grandpa here in Illinois has his annual 4th of July BBQ and I cannot wait. I will not be the biggest one this year! One of my cousins saw me and really didn't say too much. My mom said it was simply because she thinks I look smaller than her! I really don't care. I didn't do this to compete for looks, I did this for my improved health so all the good comments are just added bonuses! My mom was sure people would comment about my weight at church, but no one did. I told her it really isn't a big deal because I think people tend not to comment about people's weight because they don't want you to think that they felt you were overweight in the first place! I'm not the type to go running up to people to tell them I had WLS either. If they comment, then fine, if they don't, that's fine too. My in-laws told everyone, even though I asked them not to, but, they haven't seen me in quite a while so when I take the girls back there at the end of July for a family function (hubby will meet me there as he will be there before me), I plan on finding something "sassy" to wear! That will be fun. Since they all know I've had the surgery but haven't seen any pictures, they can only imagine what I look like. My in-laws saw me when I had lost around 55 to 60 pounds, so they will get to see me about another 50 pounds lighter. I'm hoping to be around -110 by the time I see them at the end of July. I have been in a big ol' plateau but it finally broke so I plan on taking advantage of the losing phase and concentrating on the protein, etc. so I can lose about another 7-10 pounds before I leave in exactly a month. If I don't, no big deal though. Well, I guess I've updated enough for now. Continued success to all my WLS friends! I couldn't have done this without all of you!!! 08/25/2005: My 11 month anniversary was Sunday. I've had a bit of a bout with my sinuses so not eating and drinking like I am suppose to. I hate sinus infections! I've lost 111 pounds so far. I'm now down to 177. Can't believe it. I wear size 14 pants (comfy to sometimes a bit loose) and a medium shirt. I can sometimes wear a 12 if it runs big. I don't like pants that are too snug though! I went to my parents' in Illinois this summer. Most everyone was very surprised as I hadn't told anyone. Funny though, the ones I thought would say "wow" didn't really and the ones I thought would have negative comments were pretty supportive and nice about it so go figure. I really don't care though because I didn't do this for any of them so those who had negative comments (and there were a couple) I just chalked it up to who it was who was saying it. Some people are flat out ignorant and you can't change them. Well, over the vacation, I got my official notice that my surgeon was leaving bariatrics to go back to trauma surgery. Words cannot express how sad I am about this. I know a person has to do what they really WANT to do in life though and inasmuch as he has done wonders for those who he performed bariatric surgery on, the people who he will work on now in trauma situations will benefit from him going back into that field. I'll probably switch over to Dr. Garth Davis as Dr. Glorsky was very happy with him taking over all our cases. Being almost a year out now, I won't have to go as much anyway. I'll probably miss my own personal goal of being -125 pounds by the time I was one year out, but hopefully will be down -115 pounds by next month. I at least hope I can lose four more pounds! No matter whether I do or don't, I just cannot be disappointed with myself in losing what I've lost up to now. SOOO many things have changed now. I have a much better attitude about myself which I didn't have before. For once in a long while, I actually care about what I look like when I go out instead of just throwing anything on and heading out. My girls are very excited about their "new" mom. Life seems a bit more fun again which is nice! I'm hoping next month to figure out how to get photos put on this profile. Maybe one of these days I'll get it figured out. I will update again next month for my one year post-op anniversary. 09/24/2005: Well, I would have updated for my one year, but this town was a bit crazy with the arrival of Hurricane Rita. She ended up visiting our friends to the east of us so our thoughts are definitely with them now. Wow, what a difference a year makes! I started out at 288 pounds. Today I'm weighing right at 175. Amazing, simply amazing. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to lose 113 pounds in a year. I feel so good now! I still have about 25 to 30 pounds to go, but I think if I didn't lose another pound, well, I just couldn't be disappointed. How the heck can you be disappointed with losing nearly 115 pounds!!! I went from a size 2X and even 3X to now fitting in 12's and 14's. I can shop for clothes in the regular ladies department now! YIPPEEEEE! My husband now is so excited! I weigh just a few pounds under what I weighed when we got married. Now my goal is to hit what weight I was when we met which was around 145 to 150. Hopefully I can get there. I will definitely have to work at it! My skin isn't TOO bad, but I definitely have some droopy thighs and my belly has some. Guess that tummy tuck and thigh lift will be on my wish list some year for Santa! I had to meet with my new doctor on Tuesday, Dr. Davis. He is very nice. My husband went with me, as he always does. He agreed with me, he is a very nice guy, but we both agree he is definitely not Dr. Glorsky. I wouldn't expect him to be, but, you know, when you get used to someone, it's hard to see another doctor and not compare! Maybe Dr. Glorsky will come back some day. We just want him to be happy doing what he is doing. I hope he drops in our support group meetings from time to time just to at least say hi to the few of us who go now to Dr. Davis' support group meetings. My only regret was not bringing my camera to my last May appt. with Dr. Glorsky because now I don't have a picture! Boo hoo. Maybe some day we'll get a chance to meet up with him and we can get that picture taken! Well, I'll update more later! 12/3/05: Well, this is my fourth attempt at updating my profile. Apparently some server issues with OH.com didn't save anything that I tried to update. irrr.... At any rate, just wanted to give an update. Nothing real exciting unfortunately. Weight loss is at a CRAAAWWWL right now. SO frustrating. Dr. Davis had suggested I ween myself off the protein drinks when I saw him in September, so that's what I did. Ever since then, the weight loss stopped so I decided to go back to drinking a couple of them each day again. Can't hurt! I would like to get closer to my set goal of 145 pounds. I have 27 pounds to go to hit that goal. I would be satisfied if I lost another 15 though. What I have left to lose is in my hips and butt so who knows, plastics may have to be what fixes that. Went to the support group meeting this week. What a lively group!!! Next month we're supposed to just have a social gathering of sorts since it will be on Dec. 28th. I asked Dr. Davis if he sees Dr. Glorsky at all which he said he does. I told him the few of us who merged over to his group really do miss him and to let him know that. We talked a bit more and he said he is going to ask him to come to our meeting next month, especially since there is no set agenda, just mingling and talking amongst one another. I really hope he can come. All of us who had him as a surgeon would just really like to show him what we've done so far. Hope everyone stays safe during the holidays! Will update again soon...... 12/16/2005: Had lunch today with my very good friend "Botina"! We met out at Rainforest Cafe. Freaked out my little one but it was SUCH a nice visit! Girl, I love you to pieces! You know I'm pullin' for you. One of these days it's going to be your turn and I'm going to be there for you if you need me! My birthday is tomorrow. My sister is here visiting, too, so we're going to Taste of Texas! Can we say YUMMMMMM!!! I'm so glad she is here as she normally has to head back home well before my birthday. Worked out for her to stay a bit longer this time though. Until next time...... 12/29/2005: Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Mine was terrific! Hubby got me an absolutely beautiful leather coat. I have to say, I looked pretty darn good in it, too. That wouldn't have been the case at 288 pounds. He was so excited, too. Now I have to wait until it gets cool again to wear it. Won't be long. I get so cold so quickly!!! Well, we had our holiday support group meeting tonight. It was just a social gathering. WHAT A HOOT!!! Mary Jo, our psychologist, was so funny. She brought her karaoke machine and castanets! Too funny!!! Ok, have to say, the absolute highlight of my night was visiting with Dr. Glorsky who came in to visit. I was so happy to see him. I wanted him to see what a great job he did. He is such an inspiration for me to keep pluggin' at the weight loss. I am determined to rid myself of these last 25 pounds! And my dear friend Ms. Martha...she looked so good! Almost ready to hit that one year anniversary! You go girl!!! I'm hoping to jump-start my weight loss again. After talking with Dr. Glorsky, I'm going to get back to doing what I was doing before which was focusing on my protein drinks. My weight loss all but STOPPED after I quit drinking them, so, I'm going to get back to drinking them more regularly. We'll see. I'm hoping to be in the mid 160's by end of January. I'm bouncing between 171 and 172 now so if I can dump five more pounds, then I'll be back on track. I would be so happy to be at my goal well before the summer. May be just wishful thinking, but who knows! Hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve. My youngest daughter's birthday is on December 31st and she's been fighting illness all month so I'm hoping she can shake whatever the heck it is she has so she can be well for her birthday. My poor baby!!! I hate to see any of them sick. Will update again soon! 01/01/2006: Happy New Year everybody!!!! I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve. We went to a neighborhood party. Holy cow, looked like a war zone with all the fireworks they had! In fact, had to leave before midnight because Sarah was soooooo incredibly scared of all the fireworks. She is at least feeling better so that was a plus. The entire group sang happy birthday to her which was nice! I did really good as far as all the nibbly foods go. I had a few meatballs and some tortellini salad that I made which was good with protein. I stayed away from the chips and other junk so I was happy about that! I'm hoping I can tackle this last 25 pounds this year. If I can get to within 10 or so pounds from my goal weight, then I'm going to start looking into plastics! YIPPEE! Hubby doesn't think I need it but I told him I did not go through all this to have some saggy skin in my tummy and legs. I could probably get myself into at least one size smaller pants size if I got rid of this "goo" on my hips/thigh/butt. I've always had big thighs so I'm ready to get rid of them. Congrats to everyone for a great 2005....2006 promises to be even better! Until next time..... 03/01/2006: Hi there! Well, stuck ola' on -120 pounds. I know I cannot complain, but sick of it staying there when I still have 20 pounds to go! Irrrr.... It has been crazy the past few weeks. My 12 year old daughter made the Jr. High Tennis Team! YEAH!!! She was SOOO happy. I was fairly confident she wouldn't have any problems making the team as we play as a family all the time and she even has private lessons, but hey, in school anymore, you just never know who is going to make the teams and who isn't! I feel like I'm running around EVERYWHERE these days. I absolutely CANNOT imagine me running around like I'm doing now when I was 288 pounds. Well, I would have, but there would be no "running" involved, and I wouldn't have a smile on my face!!! I think the biggest improvement is just not being so darn winded anymore. I don't feel all those aches and pains anymore which is such a blessing. Well, thanks to Dana on our terrific Texas Message Board, she was able to put my pictures onto my profile. Now all I need to do is get my picture submitted to OH.com so they can add it to my profile so my picture pops up when I post on the message boards! Wow, seeing those pix side by side is just shocking! I may have been smiling in that pre-surgery picture but it was not from a person who was happy inside. Life is just so amazing now. I thank God for my surgeon each and every day. He holds such a special place in my heart. Hope everyone has a great day! 03/08/2006: Oh my goodness....YIKES! I made it to the "Before/After" section! Holy cow!!! I cannot tell you how many pre-surgery hours I spent there looking at the before and after photos and reading profiles. It helped me tremendously. I hope my picture will in some way help someone else out. I am forever grateful to this website and all the terrific people on it! They are like family (well, the kind of family you WANT to be around that is...hehehe)! Until next time... 09/21/2006: Wow, I can't believe that today is my TWO YEAR anniversary! Holy cow! I'm not yet at goal, but hey, what's "goal"? It's just a number, right? In so many ways, I've met my goal, even though the scale doesn't say so just yet. I'm alive and well!!! My surgery has helped my entire family. We all exercise more and eat much better. Let's see, I started out at 288 and as of today, the scale said 162.4 so that's around 126 pounds. Not too shabby if I don't say so myself. I am so grateful to Dr. Glorsky for giving me my life back. I am lucky in that I really haven't had my hunger come back. I still have to tell myself that it's time to eat. I stay away from the foods I'm not supposed to eat, too. I still struggle to get enough in, protein wise, each day but after finding Profect (by Protica), it's a bit easier. Man, that stuff tastes terrific!!! I recently went to a wedding back East for my brother-in-law and no one looked at me. Now, I don't mean that in a bad way, because when I was heavy, I felt like people saw THAT first and not the real me. I used to notice how people would definitely keep their distance and not engage in conversation unless I did first. Amazing how people treat others. I hope I can eventually lose this last 15 or so pounds. If I don't, well, then I don't. I cannot be disappointed in what I've accomplished so far. I wish everyone success on their weight loss journey! Hopefully next time I update I will have made a bit more progress on this last 15 pounds. Have a great day everyone! Photos
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