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Surgeon TestimonialPatrick Coates, M.D.I had my surgery on July 30th, 2009. I had met with Dr. Coates once before the surgery and then again right before I went in. I'm told that he came by my room after the surgery, however I dont remember it. I like him very much. Seems very confident in his ability, so that puts you at ease. I have no complaints about him at all. His office staff has always been very helpful and really nice.rnAfter care is important to this Dr and his staff.rnIf I had to say something negative about him, well, I dont really have anything negative to say. |
Hello, My name is April and I'm 22 days out from my surgery ( RNY ). I started this weight loss journey in Novemeber 08 at a weight of 423 and a BMI of 69. Over the course of a few months, I lost 80lbs and was allowed to have the surgery. I lost this weight thru diet and exercise, and alot of determination. I'm 46 years old, and other than finally feeling safe and happy, I have no idea what made me actually stick to things this time.  
Thanksgiving "AS" on November 30, 2009 8:49 pm
First Thanksgiving "AS" ( after surgery )
We decided to not have thanksgiving at our house this year, and were invited to Carol's brothers house. I have to say that I wasnt looking forward to it at all. They are not a close family and his wife's family was gonna be there as well.
But much to my suprize, I had a really nice time. I will admit that I missed the quantity of food I use to eat, and the all day grazing I used to do. But I really didnt feel deprived of anything. I ate a bite or two of everything I wanted, even pie, and was happy. It truely amazed me. Things are so different for me now, in ways that I never expected or was covered in any class I had to take before surgery. My relationship with food is different now, but some times my head just doesnt get it. I still order too much food, still take too big of a bite, still want to eat the same greasy, fatty stuff that got me to 423lbs. Thank God for my small stomach, and no hunger pangs. I LOVE not being hungry.
I've been fat all my life. I never dreamed I'd actually like to walk a dog, take a hike, work in the yard. Those things were never something I COULD do, so I thought I hated them. I just didnt know that it wasnt that I hated them, just that I literally couldn't do them at my size. When you've never been normal size, you simply have nothing to compare things to. My lowest weight was 8lbs...at birth..LOL.
Life is good. The weight is coming off. And I feel so much better than I ever did. When I hit 250...I'm throwing a HUGE party in MY honor because when I first started this whole thing, I remember thinking.. "if I can lose enough weight to weigh 250, thats when I'll know I am a success" And here I am, walking up the drive of 250's house ready to knock on the door, and I know I can lose enough to reach the 100's.
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walking a mile on October 17, 2009 9:36 pm
Well, the weight is coming off, albeit, slower than I'd like. The scale here at home says 292 and the one at my docs office says 289...So I'm gonna split the difference and say I weight 290 now.
Toni and I continue to walk. I walked a mile tonight in about 30 mins. Was pretty proud of myself. There was a time in my life, not so long ago, that I thought I was going to be in a scooter. It feels good to walk. It feels good to know I CAN walk. The knees still hurt, but its managable. But without Toni's encouragement and motivation, I wouldnt be walking. I thank God for her. And I thank God for my wonderful partner Carol, who made it possible for me to begin this journey in the first place. She loves me in a way that I've never known, nor could I put into words. She married me when I was 423lbs, and said I was beautiful, she still tells me I'm beautiful today.
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October 3, 2009 on October 4, 2009 1:54 pm
Well, I'm under 300lbs. I'm at a stall, I've been 298-296 for about 2 weeks now. But I know its because I'm not eating right, or getting enough protein. I'm working on that.
We joined Curves..I dont like..but were in a contract for 1 year, so I'll go. I walked a mile the other day!! Toni walked with me. I felt amazing. Hurting, but still good about myself. It's good to have Toni to help motivate me. She's inspiring. I'm glad that she's with me in this journey.
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Sept. 12 on September 12, 2009 9:41 pm
I've spent the better part of the past 2 days sick. Diarrhea is killing me. I think the problem is the new multivitamin I have. So Monday morning I will go get the other ones and suck up the cost. So much for trying to save a buck.
Eating, today, wasn't too bad. But I've had some pretty bad times. Seems I cant remember to chew chew chew...and I end up throwing up for a hour. And then that makes me not want to eat at all. But, today was better. So hopefully I've started a trend.
My cpap pressure was lowered to 13. I seem to be sleeping okay. I have hot flashes, and I hate them.
Okay..I'm done bitching for today. Maybe I'll be happier tomorrow. I know my wife sure hopes so!
Just a note. on August 27, 2009 9:44 am
Today is August 27th...and I'm at 311lbs. I dont think I've weighed that since, well, I cant remember when. For as long as I remember, I've never been able to weight on a regular scale at the Dr's office. You know the one that only goes up to 350lbs? It's great to know that I'm on the track to being "normal" sized. I fit in a regular theater seat yesterday. I wanted to stand up and shout to everyone.."LOOK, I FIT!!! " But thought that might scare the other theater people..LOL!! But what a great feeling! It's the little things that make it so great. All the little victories that only you can appreciate. No one who as never been this size and bigger can possibly know everything that large people go thru on a daily basis. And things like fitting in a theather seat or in a booth at a resturant are HUGE to us. I have a wonderful partner, so supportive and sensitive, but even she cant imagine how all this feels.
So I say, CELEBRATE the VICTORIES!!! Do a little " i fit in a theater seat" dance if you want to.
Thanks for letting me share!
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My Story
My story? Wow..thats a tall order.
I've been fat all my life. I hope that the term fat doesnt offend anyone. Saying I'm overweight just doesnt cover it. You can be 5'6" and weight 170 and be considered overweight. I'd kill to weight 170. Anyway, back to my story. Fat all my life, as long as I can remember. My first memory of it was being in a Dr's office, I was 10, and hearing the Dr. tell my aunt "just dont let her gain any more weight and she'll grow into it". What a joke right? So it was a life time of diets, failures, being teased...you know the drill. As an adult, I tried several times to lose weight and failed everytime. So I finally gave up. For years I just continued to pack on the pounds. I have bad knees, sleep apnea, limited mobility. You'd think that would be enough to motivate me huh? Sadly, no. It wasnt until I moved to California, met and married my wonderful wife, and then tried to get a job, that I got serious about losing the weight. I couldnt get a job, and someone was honest with me enough to tell me it was because of my size. Big awakening for me. Thats the only descrimination I've ever experienced. Being an open and out lesbian had never given me this much trouble. So, with my partners support, I started doing the things I needed to do to lose the poundage. The only thing I can figure that makes this time different is I'm finally "home", safe and secure. I dont need the fat anymore, as protection.
I went to a WLS seminar and was totally devestated. I weighed 423lbs, and thats too big to have WLS. WTF??? I didnt understand. Wasnt the surgery to make you lose weight? Wasnt it the "magic bullet"? We'll you all know the answer to those questions. The surgeon convinced me to go to a weight loss Dr and get on a "real" eating plan. So I thought, "what the hell", might as well give it a shot. 1300 calories a day and exercise..I thought I was gonna die, but I didnt. And a few months later I lowered the calories to 1000 or under per day. 8 months after starting the "eating plan", I was 338lbs and ready for the surgery....You know the rest.....
One month out from my surgery, and I have good days and bad days. There are days that I wonder WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, and there are days that I'm so thankful I did it. The latter outnumbers the former. I have a long way to go, but at least I'm on the right road now....
Thanks for reading
April
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