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Surgeon TestimonialNorbert Richardson, M.D.My opinion of Dr. Richardson was that he was very upfront, thorough, had a good sense of humor, easygoing and willing to answer questions. The staff is very kind, compassionate and personable. Aftercare, as I understand it, at this point is very vital and necessary. I am very understanding of this because I know things could go wrong months, or even years after the surgery of complications if you do not listen to the surgeon. He addressed the risks of surgery very well. He was brutally honest. I am anxious to meet him again for the consultation as I have only been to the seminar. Member Interests
- Books & Literature - Love to read true crime and personal stories.
- Computers & Internet - Love my internet surfing. I never chat....but I love knowledge.
- Hobbies - Photography, drawing, painting, decorating, sewing, writing poetry.
- Pets - 4 Dogs: Kyno,Tink,Trixie, Poppy & 3 Cats: Precious, Paisley, & Chloe
- Movies - Love horror flicks, but will not turn down a good romance or comedy either.
- Music - Born country...but also enjoy Kelly Clarkson and Eminem.
- Grandchildren - Five grandkids: Kayleen 7, Romel 5, Naomi 4, Cheyenne, 1, Romen 6 mon.
- Married - Third husband who cannot emotionally commit himself.
- Medical Transcriptionist - I worked 10 yrs as a M.T. and I couldn't maintain my anxiety as I got heavier.
- Gardening - I love getting into nature w/gardening and watching beauty grow.
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My name is Barb. I started at my highest weight of 402#. It took 3 years of studying, searching, planning, and overcoming fears and personal trials to have this bariatric surgery, but I finally had it in Feb 2008. I am slowly losing, I feel 100% better and I have gained a newfound freedom and realizations about who I am. Thanks for sharing my story!!
I'm Sooo sorry it's taken so long to catch up!! on October 17, 2010 2:17 am
My personal life has gone to hell in a handbasket and that has had nothing to do with bariatric surgery....it's had to do with my adult children. I have 4 kids and my daughter moved in w/me w/4 grandkids while she was going through a divorce. She didn't work for a minute while she was here OR contribute to raising her kids; she destroyed my home and when I made comments to her about it, she left town with someone from the internet and gave all of my grandkids up to strangers. It's been a very rough year!!
In the meantime, I have gained 25 pounds. That's not surprising to me. I have a tendency to snack when I'm upset, The "thinnies", under stress, stop eating....but the "fatties" eat like there's NO tomorrow!! Going through the stress of losing my daughter and 4 grandchildren I have raised for 2 yrs, my son broke up with his sig other and is moving in with me, my youngest son and wife, just gave birth 5 days ago to my 7th grandchild and there is soooo much more I could go into, but let's just say that I've gained 25# and I'm blaming anyone and everyone for it!!
In reality....I have NOT tasted cholocate in 2 yrs. I eat NOTHING that has sugar in it. My jelly, syrup, soda and anything else is sugar-free. Unfortunately, the problem is not only stress, but I have not been able to exercise.
I had a break in my ankle on my 36th bday in 1996 (in 3 places) which left me with a plate and 8 screws. About 6 months ago, I started having severe pain. If I walked during the day, the next day, my ankle would be severely swollen and would hurt, even when I layed in bed, for 3 days.
Went to my ortho surgeon a few days ago and he told me that I am at the end stage of arthritis. Huh? I'm 50, not 75!! He said he could try me on a few months of anti-inflammatories and braces and then they would fuse my ankle. Wait a minute....after having gastric bypass, aren't we supposed to NOT take anti-inflammatories? That's what my girlfriend says and I believe I was told that too!! So what should I do? I'm worried!
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2 Ys After Gastric Bypass (A true account) on January 2, 2010 1:57 am
 Hello...all my friends....WOW!! It's been 23 months since I had RNY bariatric surgery. How has my life changed? OMG....it is sooo much different and BETTER...for sure!! I weighed over 400# to begin with. I could not breathe, walk over 1 ft, or even consider being a part of anyone else's life when I was that heavy. We are taking about a woman who had a wheelchair in her kitchen so that she could make her meals and do her dishes. I let my family wheel the wheelchair out 8 months ago. I continue to "sit" while I do the dishes...but that is due to arthritis that I acquired during my 40+ yrs of stupidity (obesity).
I refuse to "downplay" anything that I had gone through as far as overeating, binge eating or anything else. I still have obese children that, for some reason, have NOT heard what I am saying....but then again, they are adults and do not have to consider the consequences. I am 2 yrs past surgery, have lost 200 # and worry constantly that I might pack on the # if I don't watch myself. I refuse to allow myself to get over 220#. That may seem horrific to most, buy you must imagine that I came from over 400#....so seeing 200# is skinny tom me!! I have maintained the weight of under #220 for 2 yrs and if I had all my excess skin removed...I know that I would be in the 100's.
I no longer use the mobility carts in the grocery store to get around...I walk it...which is oftentimes painful because I suffer from extreme arthritis from years of obesity...but I carry on, never-the-less. Tonight it was frigid (wind chill at -10) and I shopped for the family. Unofortunately, due to a dead battery...I went shopping after 5pm. Walmart was picked clean of most everything I wanted, food-wise, but I will go out again in a week. In the meantime, I have made certain that we have at least a week's worth of food and there is always LOVE in this household....so we will survive despite the underlying circumstances~!!
So Here I Am and This is Me on October 4, 2009 6:18 pm
 So here I am....coming into fall this year. I had my surgery 20 months ago and will not be able to use 'months' in the equation once I reach the 2 yr mark. How am I doing and how am I feeling? I am, pretty much, at a stand-still as far as losing weight. I have lost almost 200# (staying steady between 210-217#) Do I care? I'm not going to kill myself to get under 200# because I know, for a fact, if I would remove the excess flab, I WOULD be under 200#. I am wearing my flab like battle scars. I am just thankful to God for allowing me to be able to lose this, be at this size and the strength and willpower He has given to me to maintain this weight.
First of all, old habits die hard. I commend the bingers and fatties who have been able to lower their weight to the point of being "skinny". I was a binger and, like any addict, old habits die hard. I have never allowed myself to eat candy, chocolate or anything that is over 7 grams of sugar. This is something that I did for myself and I have never gone back on it. Yes....I do drink diet soda....it has not killed me or caused me to gain. I try to drink water products (Crystal Lite, tea, etc)....but sprinkled among them...is soda...but not everyday.
I could NOT, in any way, shape or form, give up cheese. Not only is it full of vitamin D....but I LOVE cheese. I have watched myself with it....but it is a daily product in my life. I boil my lean ground beef instead of frying......we NEVER use sugar in my home, but only buy Splenda. I'm raising 4 grandkids under the age of 9 and have made many homemade cookies, in which I NEVER so much as lick my fingers when I make these. I don't crave chocolate (my old downfall)....and yet I buy it frequently for my husband and grandkids. Sometimes I say, "Just give me one sniff of it," but I never eat it. I don't buy anything sugar-free that is chocolate because of the fear of not being able to stop eating it. For my youngest son's birthday, he asked me to make him a strawberry cheesecake. Fine. I did make one which had no fat cream cheese and Splenda. I shared one slice with my husband and almost got sick because I felt that it was too rich for me! The word "Rich" was never a word I could ever understand years ago. I sent the whole cheesecake home with them,...not because I feared that I might eat it, but because I knew that I wouldn't eat it and did not want it to go to waste!
I guess that is the TOOL that they talk about when giving us the weight loss sermons. I try desperately not to eat anything fried. I fry NOTHING when I cook. I boil my hamburger and then season it and bag it in freezer ziplocks for meals for our future. I use a lot of seasonings (which I always have) of garlic, onion salt, pepper, salt and alot of Italian seasoning). I do love to cook and have replaced anything that calls for sugar in a recipe with Splenda (or the Walmart brand). I refuse to eat anything that has over 7 grams of sugar, but that has been a personal preference for me.
Last week, when I did our family grocery shopping, I didn't use the mobility carts (first time in 3 yrs). I will admit, it killed me. Because of the obesity damage that I had incurred upon myself, the arthritis and the hot flashes that I suffer with are there....there is no mistaking it. I chose to walk the store the other day. I was there for 4.5 hrs and ended up with 2.5 grocery carts. I am shopping for 7 people and I ended up leaving the store having spent almost $700. It's funny, because the cashier at Walmart didn't even ask me if I needed help out. You would THINK that after someone spent that amount on their products and left with 2.5 carts, that you would normally ask....but she didn't. In fact, the girl, in line behind me, had a friend who wheeled the other carts out with me.
Life has become so much easier for me. No one looks down upon me. No one questions my purchases or looks at me rudely. Life has changed and so have I.....
Welcome to the Future!!
Life Has Changed And So Have You!! on May 17, 2009 9:52 pm
You know where you haven't changed in life yet? I think that you haven't changed in the way you feel about others. I may be wrong, and I'm sure, that when they change, physically, that they may look at people differently...but not ME!!
I went to Lowe's today to buy the 10h bag of mulch that I needed to complete my garden...I may be no different than anyone else....ranging inbetween 210 and 217#....but I can live with that. You have to remember that my weight for the last 16 years has been from 320-402#. I am feeling very comfortable and this is with my exercise being at a limitation.
Although my exercise is limited....I did walk 3 blocks to a Dr's appt the other day...I can walk around a store, for a limited period of 20 minutes and I do try to get as much exericse as a I can. I started this program over 400#. Walking then, wasn't an option. I walked through Lowe's Home Improvement (although just for a moment) today and a very old friend of mine (over 20 yrs) waited on me and called me "tiny." Can you even imagine? I weigh over 200# and yet she said that!! Was she being nice?? No doubt!! Because I am an avid gardener and landscape designer....did she lie? Probably not.....I am 200# smaller and looking at me compared to what I had been (which was a size 60 jeans to a size 18, was probably impressive!!)
At this point...I am not trying to impress anyone. I guess I will continue to run into people who have known me in a considerable obese shape....but being the private person that I am....I am not trying to elaborate on the leaps and bounds I have accomplished. I just thank you, God, for the time and energy he has given to me for this period. I have YET to even start exercising (except for a little walking) to make my dreams come true. I pray for strength in getting from one day to the next. Thank God and bless everyone who is struggling!!
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So Much Has Changed!! on March 23, 2009 2:33 am
Okay....so I still look at myself as completely, morbidly obese. I have a tendency to pass by mirrors when I'm out shopping because for some, unknown reason, I like seeing myself pass by them. I have bought a mirror which hangs on the back of my bedroom door and I don't look like the person that I feel like in the mirror....but I know it's me.
My knees are still very, very bad. I know I need to contact someone about a total knee replacement....but I refuse. I love working in my garden and getting down on the floor and I refuse to give that up just because my knee keeps popping out of joint. Sure, it hurts.....sure, it's a nuisance...but I am going to wait it out a few years and see where it goes!! My son got me a bicycle that I am anxious to ride. Sure....I have heard that a bike is the worst thing I could do for my knees....but I still need some exericse and I used to love to ride!!
I have lost over 180# so far. I am into a size 16-18...which is absolutely miraculous!! PROBLEM: My husband doesn't seem the least bit interested in me. This is not something that has come on gradually since my surgery....this is something that has grown for years. I am tired of it.....I think I have pretty well let him know....and I am filing for a divorce. This is my 3rd marriage....so this is nothing I haven't been through before....but I still care for him...which makes it a little harder. Unfortunately, when you get to be my age (49)...you have a tendency to realize what's going to last and what isn't and quite honestly, I gave him years and things have gone from bad to worse. I am anxious to start my new life. I don't want a NEW man, by any way, shape or form....but I sure would like to go out and just be "me". I LOVE the new me and I want to celebrate her all over the place!!
One thing I wanted to mention is that I bought myself a new swim suit. I bought one last year (early) thinking I would need a smaller size...so I got a 22/24....I ended up having to sell it before I had a chance to wear it (so I lost big bucks!!). This year, I bought one (size 16) and it fits like a glove and looks cute (I think...and that's all that matters!!) I did without a winter coat that fit all winter and had to wear my husbands (thank you, Rod)....so I waited until spring when they went on sale and bought me one.
I want so many different things in my life now. I hate letting my husband go....but I cannot see anything, anymore, holding us together. Bless everyone person who can stay together after they lose weight. They are married to their soulmates!!
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My Story Back when I was a little girl in school, they used to bring the weight scales into your classroom and weigh you in front of the class. I remember when I was in 3rd grade I weighed 85# and my best friend weighed 47#. She was really tiny and petite and I was an average size, but from that moment on, I remember worrying about those scales. I avoided them each time they entered the classroom. I don't think I had a weight problem then, but did develop one after my parents divorced when I was 11 years old. I remember my Mom and brother losing alot of weight and me gaining 60#. I left high school weighing 200# and proceeded to have 4 children in 5 years right after that, which left me at 260# at age 25. I am now 48 years old and my highest weight before my bariatric surgery was 402#. I'd love to be about 150#, but I would definitely settle for that 200# again.
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