DonaS's Profile

Username: DonaS
Location: San Leandro, CA, USA
Member Since: 3/7/2008
BMI: 40.7
Hoping to have surgery
Surgery Type: RNY (05/12/08)
Surgeon: Gregg Jossart, M.D.

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Uploaded on 6/6/08 12:14 pm	Uploaded on 6/6/08 12:14 pm
Uploaded on 6/6/08 12:14 pm	Dickens Fair costume Uploaded on 3/11/08 8:24 pm
Me and my lil one Uploaded on 3/11/08 8:20 pm	me and my little miracle Uploaded on 3/11/08 8:16 pm

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Friends

DonaS has 17 Friends

M. !!!	LDG1970	DiAnna T.
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Goals

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Surgeon Testimonial

Gregg Jossart, M.D.
Had my first consultation about WLS options. I found Dr Jossart to be compassionate and a good sense of humor. He put me at ease. Staff was friendly and laid back. I felt comfortable there.
Update 8/10/08. I love this Doctor. He is a very skilled surgeon which I think is the reason I healed so quickly and Have had very little post op problems. I am 3 months out now and feeling great. I am just about halfway to my weight loss goal. I would have never been able to get this far without Dr Jossart and his wonderful staff. They are all great!

Latest Surgery Support Comments

Comment by Valleygirl855 on 5/18/08 9:23 am

Best of luck on your upcoming surgery! We'll be thinking of you!

Comment by MajorMom on 5/18/08 6:32 am

I'm swinging some lightweight lizards so you'll have a worry-free surgery and swift recovery! Good luck!

Comment by Jodi W on 5/12/08 5:52 am

DONA, YOUR GONNA BE A LOSER REAL SOON, AND YOUR SEAT WILL BE READY AND WAITING FOR YOU. SENDING YOU ALL KINDS OF POSITIVE VIBES AND WELL WISHES AND PRAYERS FOR A PERFECT SURGERY AND A SPEEDY AND A PAIN FREE RECOVERY. CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THAT "DONA IS OUR NEWEST LOSER" MUCH LOVE AND (((HUGE HUGS))) SINCERELY, JODI

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Hi Everyone.. My Name is Dona and I am the mom of a bright almost 5 year old daughter. She will be 5 on June 15th (my miracle baby) and the wife of a very supportive husband thank goodness!
I had been looking into WLS for about a year but we didn't have insruance untill Jan of this year. So In March I made my consult with a surgeon and I am having my RnY done May 12th 2008.

DonaS's Blog

Cutting the bad carbs out worked!
1 day ago

Since my last post 3 days ago I have lost 3 pounds!! A pound a day! I quit eating things I felt might have been stalling me for weeks. No more pita chips or triscuits.. and cut way back on the beef jerky and snacking.. Lessoned learned!!
I am now down to 151 after about 3 weeks of stall. :) On the 12th I will be 4 months out and I would like to be below 150 pounds by then. I know I can do it now!!

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Bad habits die hard
5 days ago

I am feeling so crappy.. realized tonight I am slipping back to my old ways of grazing and snacking on crap. Triscuits, pita chips and soy chips.. ok..i know this doesn't sound tooo terrible but the carbs add up! I realized I was making too many trips to the kitchen to snack and graze like I used to!! I need to stop with the beef jerky too. I know it's protein but also loaded with salt and calories, Sigh. I am down to 154 now and stalling for a couple of weeks. I am pretty sure its because of my old bad habits returning.. :(
I need to just go threw my kitchen cubbords and toss all the snack food crap out!! Family doesn't really need to be eating this either.

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WOW I cant believe its been over 2 months now
on July 28, 2008 9:15 am

I am about 2 and a half months out now from my surgery. I have lost 40 pounds as of today. August 12th will be 3 months. I am hoping to lose another 5 pounds by then to be halfway to my goal .. My surgeon wants me at 105-110 pounds :) I hope I can get there..
I started working out at the gym consistantly as of last week. It seems to be working really well.. 20 minutes of cardio and then weight training. I am hoping to get a personal trainer soon but it's expensive at my gym and I need to save up some money first.
I am hoping to get to my goal weight by the 6 month post op mark which will be Nov 12th.

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Been a little while
on July 20, 2008 2:22 pm

We had a blast at Disneyland .. they had a lot of very healthy snacks around the park at little stands.. Fresh fruit. I was able to snack on watermelon which was so refreshing on those hot days! The restaurants in the park had some very healthy choices on the menu's .. I was very impressed. I had no problem finding things I could eat and Be OK! THey also where very good about letting hubby and I share the dinners. would bring 2 plates with the dinner already devided but charge for just one meal.. it was wonderful.
So anyone planning a Disney Vacation this summer and a couple of months out from surgery.. you will have NO problem!! THey even had sugar free hand made chocolates in the chocolate shop! I had one piece and it was yummy!! What the heck it was vacation!! Had to try it. :)
SO I went shopping today and I bought size 10 jeans!!! WOW!! I had been wearing a 14 for a month .. and they were getting baggy ... so I decided to just grab 10's instead of 12's and the 10 fit perfect.. I almost wish I had bought 8/9 instead even if they are tight because will fit me soon anyway but oh,well... I will just wear baggy jeans untill I am down to a size 8. :)

hope everyone is doing well and having a great summer!!!

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7 weeks or so.. monday July 7th will be 8 weeks.
on July 1, 2008 8:19 pm

I have been doing pretty good.. about 7 weeks out now from my Roux en Y. I am finding out I do better with eating beef... lean steaks and very lean hamburger than chicken.. chicken is still not staying down to well but I try every few days to see if I can handle it.. sometimes it is ok.. but most of the time I just throw it up. THank goodness I can have fish and beef though! I started eating a few more very well cooked veggies to my diet because I was getting so badly constipated. Seems to be helping a lot!! Broccoli and asparagus.

This week we are going on vacation. THis will be a real test of my will power !!! We are going to Disneyland!! yeay! I just hope I don't get tempted by all that yummy junk food there and get sick

. Wish me Luck. we are leaving early tomorrow morning (weds july 2nd.)

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Archive

My Story

Well I guess my story starts about 12 years ago when I was 30 years old. I had just given birth to my first child but the joy and happiness of having a beautiful little girl was shortly fallowed by the pain and grieving of losing her at 12 days old. She passed away from a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. During my pregnancy I had high blood pressure and undiagnosed gestational diabetes. They didn't diagnose it untill I was ready to give birth. My daughter was 10lbs 1oz. not uncommon for diabetic mothers to have very large babies if the diabetes goes undiagnosed. I had gained 95 pounds during this pregnancy. I had weighed 140 when I got pregnant and when I gave birth I had was 235.. this was the heaviest I had ever been. After I had my daughter my weight dropped down to 190 and I weighed 190 for a long time.. I am 4'11" tall so 190 is still quite a bit of weight for my small frame. A few years past and I ended up divorced from my first husband of 8 years. Met my current wonderful husband when I was 33.We tried to have a child and I couldn't get pregnant. My cycles had never been normal. Only every couple of months and then for only a couple of days. I had 2 misscarriages in a 2 year time period. When I was 35 I desided to go to a Reproductive Endocrinologist at Stanford Med Center since my regular OBGYN was of no help at all and kept telling me to relax and lose weight and that I would eventually get pregnant.
At this point my weight had climbed back up to 225 and I was feeling terrible. THey tested me at stanford for PCOS and Insulin resistance. As it turns out I have PCOS with Insulin resistance and that was the answer to all my problems I had been experiencing for several years including not being able to lose weight.
My Reproductive Endo at this point put me on 2550mg of metformin xr daily which I am still taking 7 years later. Once I started taking the metformin I lost 20 pounds immediately. I was told to use a gylcemic index and to eat high protien , low carb diet. I was able to get down to 190 for a little while but I would go back up to 205. Thanks to metformin and clomid I was able to have another baby girl June 15th, 2003. She is my joy and my love, my miracle baby.
Again during this pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and they found it very early on at 4 months pregnant. They put me on insulin injections for the remainder of my pregnancy. I did well during my pregnancy and only gained 25 pounds. My daughter weighed 7lbs 6 oz. Very healthy!
I was able to get back down to 200 pounds after my pregnancy.. then I joined a gym and have been dieting and low carbing for the past 4 years off and on. Last year I hired a personal trainer and worked out with her for 5 months. I fallowed her diet and exercise program to only lose 12 pounds .. ugh! well better than not losing any weight at all I guess. I was able to get back down to 190 again.. which seams to be where my body wants to be at when I diet. I can't seem to get below that even after months of low cal, low carb with exercise..
I am currently back up to 205.. and some weeks I get up to 210 depending on weather i am exercising or watching my carbs. It's amazing how fast I pack on pounds if I am not very careful. If I didn't watch what I eat at all I would probably be well over 250 lbs by now at the rate my body likes to gain.

Last september was when I decided to start looking at surgical options for weight loss. My back hurts..I have acid reflux and I am tired of dealing with all the nasty symptoms of PCOS.. especially not being able to diet and lose weight like a normal person!
We didn't have medical insurance for about 7 months though so I had to wait till this year. Thank goodness we have good medical coverage now and I was able to start looking for a Bariatric surgeon.
I found Dr. Greg Jossart in San Francisco who I really like. He took the time to listen to me and to explain all my options to me. Together we decided the Roux en Y gastric Bypass would be best for me. I am about 100 pounds overweight but would be comfortable with losing 80 pounds or so.
My consult was last weds March 12, 2008. I had my nutritional counseling on the same day. Next weds I go for my psychiatric evaluation. Then we just wait and see what the insurance company (Blue Cross of Ca, PPO) says.

Hopefully I will be able to lose the weight, be happy and healthy and be able to keep up with my almost 5 year old daughter. Get off of the metformin and no longer have acid reflux or aches n pains in my feet and legs..