- Name: Wendy M.
- Username: dwmontgomery
- Location: Spokane, WA, USA
- Member Since: 8/12/2008
- BMI: 47.0
- Post Op
- Surgery Type: VSG (09/05/08)
- Surgeon: Lee Trotter, D.O.
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Surgeon TestimonialLee Trotter, D.O.Dr. Trotter has been wonderful. He is very up front and honest about what is needed to make this journey a success, and listens to and addresses your concerns. He genuinely cares, and wants only the best for you. Others I have talked with that have had surgery performed by him reaffirm my impression. Although a little frustrated at first with the office staff and their procedures and the mixed messages I was getting between the doctor, his office staff, and the bariatric nurse, everything has proceeded very well. Linda Cox, the bariatric nurse, has been an angel for me and even provided me with her home number before the surgery in case I had concerns over the weekend after surgery. rnrnSomething that I do think is important is that Dr. Trotter has an aftercare program in place which includes monthly visits with him and a monthly bariatric support group. I attend this regularly and have found it to be a valuable tool for my success. Member Interests
- Animal Rescue - All of our animals have been rescue animals.
- Cruises - Our hope is to some day take the Alaskan Cruise.
- Jewely Making - My husband and I both make and sell jewelry.
- Stained Glass - I enjoy doing both stained glass and fused glass projects.
- Country - I love Country Music!
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3 Days and Still on Track! on January 4, 2011 6:42 am
Three days down and still on track with my food. Having my protein drink daily, taking my vitamins/supplements religiously - still need to get the exercise in, though. But 2 out of 3 is a start! Last night was tough - wasn't hungry, but sure wanted to snack - and actually, I did - I had a piece of low-fat string cheese : ) I do need to work harder at getting the water in - but with this cold weather, coffee just tastes so much better. I told myself for every cup of coffee I have, I will have a cup of water - but I am having trouble just getting in my 8 cups of water a day.
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Made it through Day 1 & 2! on January 2, 2011 7:59 pm
Well, I made it through the first two days - not perfectly, but much better than I have in some time. Took all my vitamins/supplements, followed the eating plan nearly perfectly - but haven't exercised or drank enough water - so that is my goal for this week - to do better on those two areas while continuing following my eating plan and taking my supplements. I can't expect everything in life to be perfect and just throw in the towel when it isn't.
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Out of Control! on January 1, 2011 9:56 am
It has been nearly a year since I have posted anything - and that has been because I am become more and more out of control. I don't know why other than stresses in my life. Losing weight does not make life perfect. All the stresses that were there before are still there - even weight issues! So, my resolution this year is to turn my life around and do the one thing I didn't do before - confront the emotional side of my addiction - yes, it is an addiction - and I have finally admitted I have that tendency to become easily addicted to things. Trying to avoid the issues of why I am grazing and overeating and not following my plan, the "fun" outings with my husband to the casino have slowly turned to an addiction that I see clearly, so I have told my husband to not suggest we go to the casino (it is too easy to readily agree), and if I suggest it, to gently but firmly tell me no. But it is very difficult to say NEVER going back - so I am taking it in short segments. For now, it is no to going there in the next 6 weeks - I will take it in 6 week segments for now. And I am calling today to see where and when OA (Overeaters Anonymous) meets - I am going to start going there again (I went over 25 years ago for about 3 weeks). It is not Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystems, or any other diet that I need - I know what to eat - I know what my surgeon told me I should eat for the rest of my life. But what I do need is to address my addiction head on and face those things in my life that are spurring on my addictive behaviors.
So - I need to be accountable to myself to everyone else who reads this. Here is evidence of how out of control my eating has become. In the past year I have gained back 50 pounds - 20 of that in the past 2 months. And I have gained back 42" - 24 1/2" of that in the past 2 months - that is frightening, embarrassing (I am so ashamed of myself!), and a big awakening! So - every Saturday I will come on line and post my progress - weight and inches. And I will also try and post everyday - journaling my achievements and my struggles and my feelings. It is so difficult to do that here on this site where you all can see my failures. The good news is I have kept off 112 lbs - and I will not gain any more back! I have come to far for that. Please keep me in your prayers - I so need it!
Wendy
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Avoidance? on March 29, 2010 7:34 am
I haven't posted in a couple months, and I think it is just that I am avoiding it because of my difficulties right now with grazing. I am not losing any more, but not really gaining - just going back and forth about 6-7 pounds from the 190's to the 200's - maybe I am having an issue with being under 200. Maybe it is a trigger for some reason. Can't figure it out, but am doing a couple different "back-on-track" programs. One is called "Back-On-Track With Barbara" and the other is "WLS Success for Life". They are both on-line plus workbooks/assignments. I am learning a lot about myself, and I am sharing the information with my husband for some added support and encouragement. He is even trying to follow the same sort of eating/exercise plan I am doing to help him take off some extra weight. I have scheduled exercise into my calendar at regular times, and even set up a back-up exercise plan for each day in case something unexpected interferes with what I have scheduled. (Before I would just say "well I guess I can't exercise today" if something came up - now I am planning ahead so that I don't have an excuse.) I am journaling my food and emotions everyday to see if I can find some pattern - some food that affects me more than others, or some emotion that is contributing to my grazing. My meals and snacks are planned and are right on plan. It is the grazing (especially late afternoon and into the evening) that is getting me in trouble.
I go to the West side of the state this week for my last post-op appt. I have healed well, the seromas are all gone, the incision line looks great. I am very happy with the results of the surgery. I just wish the legs weren't so bad. I think that is where 70% of my fat is right now. But that will come in time - and spandex works wonders : )
Bloomsday (a 7.5 mile walk/run here in Spokane) is coming up the first part of April. I had initially planned to try and jog part of it, but a couple things have changed that part of the plan. I will be walking it with my husband (his first time!) who is disabled and I want to be there for encouragement for him (and a couple other gals who are walking with us as well). But an additional problem is my knees. They use to give me a lot of trouble before I lost all this weight, but were doing gerat. Then I started working out with a trainer who had me do this one stretch that did something to my knees and they get pretty painful after a few miles. I really need to get them checked out and perhaps get some exercises from a physical therapist to strengthen those muscles. That trainer I had has moved on to somewhere else (he was right out of college and I think worked at the gym while going through college). Later on, I may get another trainer, but for now I am doing well and doing some classes at the gym as well as training for Bloomsday. And I also have a half-marathon coming up in late September that I plan on at least walking.
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6 WEEKS POST-OP LBL! on January 21, 2010 2:22 pm
Yesterday I was 6 weeks post-op LBL! I still have one drain in (the one Dr. Dry put in a few weeks ago). The other one I took out last Friday as nothing else was draining from it. When I removed it, found that it was totally clogged with tissue (fat, clots, etc.). Unfortunately, it now appears I may have another seroma developing on that side now. However, it isn't very big at this point, and I am increasing the compression as per the doctor's instructions. And the remaining drain has increased in amount of drainage (supposedly due to the other one coming out). I have to go back and see Dr. Dry on February 2 to have things checked out - hopefully it will be the last trip for a while.
I am back at work full time now, and doing pretty well, although I am exhausted by the end of the day. I travel a lot between schools for my job, and I feel so out of shape! My husband and I did sign up at Oz Fitness (we get a huge discount due to my working for the School District), and as soon as I am able, I will start going there on a regular schedule. I figure I will start out with treadmill and water aerobics until I build up my stamina.
I am working on an on-line program called Back On Track With Barbara for people who have had WLS and are needing support staying or getting back on track with their program (eating, exercise, etc.). It is nice to have others at the same place as you and be there for one another and share ideas of what has helped us.
I took my measurements this morning and was so excited - my waist is 38"! That may sound like a lot to you, but when your starting waist size was in the 50's, that is tremendous to me! Starting measurement for my hips/tummy area was 69" - it is now 45 1/2" - that is nearly 24 inches lost just there! I can't imagine what my measurements will be when I am all the way down, but even if I were never to lose another inch, I feel so much better! But I'm not giving up yet. I have a wedding to get ready for! Yes - my son, Sean, who is 34 and who lost 175 lbs (and now weighs about 170 lbs - he lost his weight on Jenny Craig and has maintained it for 2 years now) is getting married! I am so excited for him. They are looking to get married around the end of July, but it depends on what they are able to find as far as a location. They also just got an apartment (sign papers tomorrow), and will be moving in to that shortly. So many changes in both his and my lives!
Wendy
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My Story
I started putting weight on around 8 years of age. Mom always said I was "chubby", and that my "baby fat" would go away as I grew taller. So I guess you could say I never grew tall enough! When I graduated from high school I was 175 lbs, by the time I married the first time I was 190, at the time I got pregnant I was 220, and when I delivered my son I weighed 190. I thought at that time that maybe my best bet was to just stay pregnant as I seemed to lose weight best when pregnant (morning sickness - however, it was 24 hours a day for the entire pregnancy!). My weight crept back up to 220 until I went through my divorce - and then I lost weight rapidly for the first couple months. Although I had tried numerous different diets to lose weight in the past (Weight Watchers, Diet Centers with injections of pregnant women's urine, every fad diet that came out), this time I decided to try Richard Simmons plan, and I did really well for about a year. I got down to 164 lbs and was exercising nearly 2 hours a day. But once I started dating and going to bars, and getting involved with an alcoholic that made me feel like nothing . . . well I put on more weight than ever before, eventually climbing to 270 lbs. I went through counseling groups, Overeaters Anonymous, Weight Watchers (several more times), Nutri System, Rotation Diet, Atkins Diet - even a nutritionist and dietician. I went up and down and up and down - guess this is what they would call yo-yo dieting. When I married for the second time I weighed in about 250 lbs (losing 20 pounds before the wedding). But stress and financial worries and being caregiver for my mom in her last years - well everything just overwhelmed me, I guess, and I climbed back up to my highest of 369 lbs. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea (now so severe I am on a Bi-Pap), high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritic knees, severe back pain, and diabetes (Type II). I decided that bariatric surgery might be what I would need to help me lose the excess pounds. So I started researching bariatric surgery. I talked to my doctor and she and several other doctors wrote letters to my insurance company that they felt I should have bariatric surgery. However, it was an exclusion to my contract, and despite 6 appeals was denied. I heard somewhere that in some states the Department of Vocational Rehabiliation will pay for the surgery, so I contacted my local office. I think the biggest reason I kept pursuing the surgery was because I love my job - I am an audiologist in the public schools and it has wonderful benefits which are important to me because of my health and my husband is disabled as well - but my job requires me to travel a lot between the schools and climb stairs and get down on the floor with the little ones and carry equipment back and forth - and I just didn't know how much longer I could do the job. It took me two years and a lot of persistence, but they finally approved the surgery on August 5, 2008. I knew that most surgeons and insurances require you to go on a weight loss program for 6 months, so I joined Jenny Craig plus I worked with my physician and the nutritionist at the medical center ( Group Health). During those two years before Department of Vocational Rehabiliation approved the surgery, I was able to lose about 50 lbs on Jenny Craig, but couldn't afford to continue on the program. I did learn much about nutrition and different life-changing habits, but was able to keep off only 18 lbs. of that 50 lb weight loss off over 1 1/2 years. The surgeon explained how it is nearly impossible once a person reaches weights as high as mine to lose the weight. Each time we go on a diet, we lose muscle as well as fat, which lowers the metabolism. So next time you try to diet, it gets more and more difficult because your metabolism is slower and slower. Well, here I am - 3 days away from my surgery, and both excited and nervous. I'll try and do good about posting about my journey.
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