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Surgeon Testimonial James Foote, M.D. He gave me back my life. His skill and knowledge changed my world. My first impression of him was he seemed very young, but he has done this surgery so many times. I only saw him a couple of times since -- once before surgery, and once after. He was very caring and nice, and very professional. After-care is very important at MMPC -- there are dietitians, pyschologists, support groups, exercise specialists. I don't know much about his bedside manner, although he was very nice. But as far as surgical competence goes, I think that's extremely important for an operation such as this. Member Interests
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When I started on this journey in July 2003, I weighed 318 pounds. Unfortunately, before I had surgery, I got depressed waiting and gained weight (not what the doctor wanted me to do!) I was, at my heaviest, 355 the day my ob/gyn had to weigh me on what I referred to as the "horse scale" and I vowed that would never happen again. It hasn't. Two weeks before I had surgery, I was at 347. I lost 28 pounds in a pre-op fast; I am now down to 178 pounds and hope to be down to 170. Before I had surgery, my mother worried I would lose weight only to gain it all back. That was what I always did. I would diet, lose, hit a plateau, get discouraged, then gain it back plus some. I am determined not to let that happen again. I feel this surgery has given me a new lease on life. I am getting a new knee in a few weeks, so hopefully I will be able to walk without pain again for the first time in many years.
Eileen Briesch's Blog
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My Story 1-31-04: I've been approved for the surgery by my insurance but need to get a cardiologist's clearance. So I am having a stress test Feb. 13. I really need to get this done because in December I hurt my right knee in a fall and walking has become even harder for me.  3-25-04: I'm close to getting a date. But because it's been six months since my last appointment, I have to see the internist again. I'll be doing that next week and then hopefully I'll get a date for my surgery. The stress test showed I have a very strong heart. I think the cardiologist was surprised because I'm so obese ... but I had no blockages or anything else. My main problem is my joints. Now my knees feel OK but my ankle hurts. I really need to get this surgery done to get some of the weight off my joints. 4-20-04: I have a date! It's June 29. I could have had May 11 but it's too soon before I have to travel to Denver for a wedding June 12. So I decided to wait until after the wedding. I didn't want to cut it close. 6-16-04: Started my fast today. The big drawback: No caffeine! I don't have a headache at least. So far, not so bad but it's early. Met with the dietitian and the PA yesterday and inched closer to my date. 6-20-04: Day 5 of the fast. I feel miserable. My body aches. I have headaches all the time (including one real doozie this morning). I've had diarrhea today. Which is strange, because basically I'm not putting that much into my body. I'm really tired too. I dragged through work last night, my back hurt so much. I hope this gets better. But on the upside, the food hasn't been all that bad. I cleaned out my cupboard of all my snack foods and other things I know I won't be able to eat, and my co-workers had a feast. I'm going to make the cake I have in the cupboard for Tuesday to get that out of the way. I won't be able to eat any, but at least I'll be able to enjoy the smell. Nine more days and I'll be starting my new life. 6-21-04. Day 6. I feel much better today. Caffeine withdrawal must be over. I don't have headaches and my body doesn't hurt any more than usual. I had cream of chicken soup and chicken noodle soup mixed together for lunch and I'm pretty full. Nothing will taste as good as being thin will feel! 6-25-04: Five days until my new life. I sure hope this helps my joints. Doctor took me off Vioxx before surgery and suggested I take Tylenol for my pain: hah! It doesn't work, of course. I can barely move. Otherwise, I'm doing OK -- caffeine withdrawal is over, but these foods seem to make me really thirsty. I cleaned out my cupboard and freezer and brought the food into work for my coworkers to enjoy. 6-28-04: Tomorrow's the day! I'm so excited. I'm a bit nervous, of course, but I'm determined to carry through on this. It was my last day at work today, and all my co-workers wished me well ... some didn't know yet and were surprised, but made no judgments, just that they hoped everything went OK. I'm so fortunate to have such supportive co-workers ... they're like another family. 7-1-04: Got to go home today. Yeay! Hospital staff kept waking me up all night, first on Tuesday night to walk me every two hours, then last night to give me potassium because my levels were low. Then the vampires (lab techs) come in to draw the last few ounces of your blood, and they wake you up too. I got woken up at 1:30 this morning, then didn't get back to sleep until nearly 4 a.m., then the PA woke me up at 6:30. At that point I decided just to get up. It was a rocky couple of days. First, on Tuesday, I was supposed to have surgery at 8:30 a.m. About 7:15 a.m., the nurse came in and said they couldn't take me down because I had low potassium. I was so upset. I did everything I was told to, I had two rather miserable weeks, and now they're not going to do it and I've got to start all over? Plus, I didn't have a way to get home. But then the nurse said they could give me some potassium by IV and I would probably have surgery later in the day. She said Dr. Foote was aware of the matter and it wasn't a problem rescheduling for that day. So then they give me the potassium, and let me tell you that's about the worse thing you can ever get. It is so painful. I was in tears. Plus, I was still in tears worrying whether I'd have my surgery. So the nurse asked the anesthesiologist whether I could have something for the pain, and he said OK. That helped ... it still hurt but I didn't care anymore. At about 11:30 my potassium was up and they took me down to surgery, and I went under to start my new life at 12:30. Dr. Foote says everything went well, and was ready to discharge me on Wednesday, but then my pulse shot up and my heart was fluttering. So then they did an EKG, an ultrasound of my legs to check for clots, then I got some more potassium ... leading up to the night from hell. I was so glad to leave that place. The people were nice and all, but I didn't get any rest and I'm so tired. Otherwise I feel pretty good ... a little pain, especially when I get up. Well, I need another nap. 'night all. 7-6-04: One week post-op, and other than some diarrhea, which isn't unusual for me, I feel OK. On Friday, I called the doctor's office and asked the nurse about the diarrhea, and she recommended liquid Immodium (but it said on my discharge slip that I was not to use Immodium). I also asked her about exercise. Because of my knees, it's hard for me to do a lot of walking on dry ground, but I asked when I could get back in the pool. "Today," she said. Well, I didn't go then but decided today (Tuesday) was the day. It wore me out. I only walked 20 minutes in the pool, but I was pooped the rest of the day. Later in the afternoon, another nurse called me and when I told her I had been in the pool and was now tired, she got very upset. "You shouldn't be doing that, not with open wounds," she chided. Well, I told her, one of your other nurses told me it was OK. It got me a little angry that their people can't get on the same page for after care. This is, after all, major surgery, and they should all know the routine. Anyway, after today, don't think I'm going back for awhile. I'll just have to walk around the house until my knees give out. Otherwise, tummy feels OK, I was able to get down three protein meals today, but I'm getting kinda bored sitting at home. 7-7-04: After posting last night, I stood up and had horrible pains in my lower abdominal area -- so bad that I had sweating. I took some pain med, but I had just taken something else and wound up throwing up some of it. I laid in bed with an ice pack on my neck and finally the pain subsided. But I'm wiped out today ... still in pain and very tired. I guess I overdid it yesterday and now I'm paying for it. No running around today ... I'll even let my cat sitter clean the litter boxes again. Just took some pain med so I hope that works. 7-14-04: Doing OK. I've lost 27 pounds since I started on the pre-surgical diet four weeks ago. I'm pleased. I can even weigh myself on my home scale now. Went to the doctor for my two-week post-op visit, and surprise: my blood pressure was too low -- 98/60. So now I'm off the blood pressure med for now. That may explain why I've been so tired, more so than usual. I am going to try to add back in cream soups and pudding and milk today. So we'll see how that goes. 7-30-04: Had some problems in the last couple of weeks. First, I developed an infection in one of the incisions and had to be on antibiotics. That caused a lot of stomach distress. Then I went back to work, but had to call in sick a couple of times because of the stomach woes. Have felt nauseous a lot. Wednesday, I went for my four-week checkup, and the PA was concerned about the diarrhea and stomach distress, so he ran some tests. Don't know what those were. He seemed to think it was caused by the antibiotics, so he told me to quit taking them. The good news was I have now lost nearly 35 pounds. Now that the incision is healed, I hope to get back in the pool. I also get to eat real food again. So far, it's gone down OK. No problems there. Sept. 12, 2004: I'm starting to feel better. In fact, I have energy that I didn't realize I had -- without caffeine. Most food has been fine going down, except for beef and bread. So I switched to buffalo (which is very good) and tortillas (much thinner, easier to digest.) I'm back in the pool and up to 40 minutes workout. I even vacuumed without being in pain, and that's a first for a long time. My family is amazed by how little I ate when I saw them in August. My sister-in-law even sent me home with some food because she felt bad I didn't eat much (a buffalo burger, and some beans ... which I ate for a good week after). Last week I dropped 9 pounds so now I'm down 52 pounds. Before that, it was 2 pounds a week, which I was happy with. But it felt great to have a big loss. Sept. 28, 2004: Tomorrow will be 3 months since the surgery. I have never felt better. Yesterday I had so much energy, I thought I was on caffeine (I wasn't!) I have now dropped 63 pounds -- this is the most I've ever lost. Usually I plateau at about 50. I'm down a size in tops and nearly two sizes in pants. I added 20 minutes of swimming to my routine -- I was just walking 40 minutes but the swimming has been great. And I added some strength training -- just some 3-pound weights. Next week I'm going on a short trip up to Sault Ste. Marie and take a train through the canyon. I think this will be the first trip in a long time where I won't feel so worn out. At least I hope so. I feel like I have a new life and I thank God for Dr. Foote and the folks at MMPC who saved me. Nov. 5, 2004: Hit a wall in October. Was down to 280, which was 67 pounds, but have been losing and gaining the same five pounds ever since. It's a little frustrating. Been swimming and doing some weights. I actually feel pretty good joint wise ... back and knees don't hurt as much, or at least all the time. I was able to walk through a grocery store and stand in line (a real challenge) and not feel like I was in so much pain. But I wish I could get off the see saw. Nov. 14, 2004: I'm off the seesaw! Lost 9.5 pounds last week and one this week. Feb. 4, 2005: Down 93 pounds now, zeroing in on 100. I haven't been down this low since college (more than 25 years ago). Have been lifting some weights, figured out how to use the exercise ball and band, and continue to keep swimming. I'm down from a 30W to a 24W in pants, and can actually buy them in a store now. In tops, I'm down to a 1X. Feel great. March 9, 2005: I've finally hit the big 1-0-0! I had been seesawing since my last post, but I knew I was still making progress because I was down to a 22W pant and smaller panty size and bra size. But it was frustrating because I hadn't lost in a while. Until today. Weighed myself before my shower and I saw the scale at 246. I was so excited. It's been a long time getting down this low again. I feel so good.  4-22-05: Check out my new photo! This is me at 246 pounds. Now down to 239. Blood pressure is normal -- I've been off blood pressure meds for three weeks. Cholesterol is 152, blood sugar 84. Doctors are all very pleased with my progress. I turned 50 on April 11. Had a great vacation in the Smokies last week, although I fell getting out of a ride at Dollywood. Still have bad knees and a bad back. I did a lot of walking (although very slow!) and even managed stairs (slowly) at the Biltmore Estate. But by the end of the week, I was pooped! Still tired this week. Next week I have to have a colonoscopy ... just a routine screening because of my age and the fact colon cancer runs in the family. 6-21-05: I'm now down to 225. Had my first date Sunday since I was in high school, when I had my one and only date (and he dumped me for a skinny chick.) This guy seems very nice. I hope I'll see him again. It has been nearly a year since my surgery, and I am so thankful I had this done. I feel like a whole new woman. Saturday, I bought a couple of swimsuits off the rack ... haven't been able to do that for a long time. It's great getting the bargains. And oh, the suits were size 18s ... no W on them. |
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