|
8 year Surgiversary on October 16, 2009 4:12 am It was 8 years ago yesterday that I trusted Dr. Peters to perform the DS on me. At age 44 and a life devastated with morbid obesity and autoimmune arthritis I was willing to take the risks of surgery to restart my life.
I have to say I never hated myself- I hated my fat. I hated the restrictions that the fat placed on my health and the basic quality of my life. What do I know now 8 years later. I know that it was the best gift I ever gave myself. Self-pay is not easy but was the only way to get this to happen I know now that I can manage my weight for long stretches of time. I know that the trinity has been the key to my success. No one area is more important than the other all need to be in balance. Nutrition, Exercise, and Mental Health. All must be carefully tended and worked on daily in order to be at my best. I know that I would recommend this surgery over all other weight loss surgeries. As a physician I know the benefits of long term studies. As a teacher and mentor to others I know mentally the joy of having control over my weight for the first time. as the head of the YWCA Health Wellness and Fitness I know and live the benefits of exercise for everyone. So I am grateful each day of my life for Dr. Peters my surgeon, my husband and family for my support, and OH for the friendships I have made and a community where I have always been welcomed.
When do you let your conscience speak? on August 26, 2009 7:46 pm I am getting frustrated at times with the degree that people on this site express medical opinions and treatment suggestions.
Be the first to leave a comment.If someone has a pain- and it is severe, appears unusual, causes vomiting or diarrhea---they should call their surgeon or go directly to the ER. If someone has a worry that they have a gastrointestional infection they should see their surgeon, pcp, or a gastroenterologist. I hate the questions about bacterial overgrowth. The concern is whether it is an infection and could it be C. diff. We have people who have smelly poop or gas and suddenly with no exam, no lab testing showing an infection, no stool culture are treating themselves with Flagyl. To who do they turn for advice other board members, Carolyn is an RN but shw is not a doctor and more specifically she has not examined any of these people. More and more commonly C.diff is flagyl resistant.One of the reasons many doctors will not prescribe flagyl for wls patients unless they have a proven infection ( abnormal blood counts, abnormal stool culture or abnormal colonoscopy). It may be a common practice with some of the DS members of this board to take it without testing, or to even take flagyl mail order from other countries, or a vetinarian fish version. Just be aware that vancomycin is not an easy antibiotic to take, many people end up on IV vancomycing not just oral therapy. Drug reisistant C. diff can be a very very dangerous infection and it is one that indiscriminate use of antibiotics has fostered. This is my opinion as a physician and one that has been researched. I may have seen the rare cases of C. diff resistance and the difficult times those patients endure in the hospital. The burden of lost wages, expensive drugs so I do not agree with the use of Flagly as it has been represented multiple times on this board. If you choose to use it off label- that is without a Doctor's supervision that is your decision on your medical care. However I pray to God that you do not get C. diff nor that you spread it to somone else who might die from your bacterial resistant form.
lovin' my DS on July 29, 2009 7:08 am so now I am singing Amazing Grace DS style
![]() Amazing DS, how sweet the sound, T'was DS that taught my soul to not fear. Through many dangers, toils and stalls
The scale! on July 12, 2009 5:00 am The scale is a tool to monitor long-term progress, it is not a happiness meter, nor should it be a mood ring.
When I wrote that to Sia when she was having a slowdown early out, I had not realized how it has become my maintainence philosophy. I had spent so much of my life measuring my worth by a scale. Having the thinner older sister growing up and having it constantly reinforced by my parents by virtue of her weight she was more worthy. Yes my better grades were great but I was still fat. Lets not even start about middle school, high school and college where you bust and belly ratio was more important than books and brains. Only until I was in Medical school was I suddenly a " hot pick" even then I starved myself into the acceptable range. Even so my husband the doctor when we first dated at 220lbs was not sure he could date someone so fat. By that time I had enough self esteem to say listen this is the smallest I have been in years- take and love the entire me or find someone else. Yet that critism lingered in my brain. Ironically when he strayed from our marriage was after the DS when I was the thinnest I have ever been. So weight was not an issue then it was the same issue his own lack of self esteem. I won't go into it here as it is his private family business but I should of run when it came up in the first place. The hardest part of maintaining is that the scale which for once in our lives after the DS was a thing of joy no longer provides that function for us. At best it stays the same or statistically goes up some. To that end I just no longer weight myself after 2 years of maintaining where I wanted to be I just use my clothes as an indicator. They still all fit so I am good!
More studies of the superiority of the DS
Browse pages: next >
on June 24, 2009 6:36 am
|
![]() ![]() Archive
Tags |