I began this journey in September of 2005. Anytime before that if gastric bypass was mentioned, I would say no, never, there are too many people that die from this and I don’t want to leave my husband alone without me to take care of him. As my weight was creeping up and the diets weren’t working anymore, the Fibromyalgia was getting worse, I knew I had to do something. I still wouldn’t consider WLS because of all the bad things I had heard. In the meantime, my weight got to its highest of 295 pounds.

In December, I heard of a procedure called a lap band. I did a lot of research and this sure seemed like it would help me in my quest to lose weight. I talked it over with my PA and she had a patient who had the lap band and seemed to be doing well with it. I still wasn’t sure so I dropped it for a while.

I was on a Fibromyalgia bulletin board one day and there was a post about someone having the lap band and how they had lost weight and the pain seemed to be lessened. This perked me up again and I started researching again. By the middle of January, I knew this surgery was for me. I then started researching surgeons and was impressed with the credentials at MMPC in Grand Rapids. All of the opinions of patients that the doctors were very caring and very experienced with this type of surgery. I called MMPC to get some more information. They scheduled me for a free orientation session and sent me all the paperwork. My gosh, I’d never filled out so many papers or answered so many questions in my whole life. I had to document every weight loss that I’d ever tried, I had to write down all medications I’d taken and then explain all the surgeries I’d had (this was just the beginning).

At the orientation session given by Dr. Kemmeter in February, he asked who all was going to do lap band. I raised my hand high along with a couple of others. He then asked how many were there to see about roux-en-y, more people raised their hands. A couple raised them on the duodenal switch procedure. He then made the comment that those of us who were going to do lap bands might be changing our minds after he was done. I said “I don’t think so because I’ve done a lot of research and this is what I want”. Well let me tell you, after he was done with the orientation, I was thinking long and hard about what procedure I was going to have done. All the research I’d done didn’t prepare me for what you had to continue to do if you had the lap band. I didn’t want to go in for fills, especially at $150 each. I was afraid of my body absorbing the band because the lap band hadn’t been in use for all that long (Vioxx kept running through my mind). I also knew we were going to retire to somewhere in the southwest in about 6 years and I didn’t want to try to find a doctor out there that could give me the fills/releases.

On the way home, my husband and I talked about this. He wanted it to be my decision but he thought the roux-en-y would be the best for me. We continued to talk it over for the next couple of days while waiting for MMPC to call and start scheduling appointments in preparation for the surgery.

I finally got the call and the lady asked who I wanted to do my surgery. I got a little nervous then because I blurted out “I think Dr. Kemmeter is a bit young, do you have someone with more experience?” She laughed and said that she would recommend Dr. Foote. Well, I remembered the comments people had made about him when I was doing my research so I said he would do just fine. After that my first appointments were scheduled. I don’t remember much about them except meeting with Dr. Foote for the first time. I was very nervous but he made me and my husband feel so at ease. He explained all the good things about the surgery and all the bad things that could and have gone wrong with the surgery.

I then started getting everything in order. I wanted to know that Larry was taken care of if something happened to me. You see, in October 2000 he suffered cardiac arrest. He wasn’t expected to live and if he did, he would have severe brain damage. Well, he defied the odds. He lived and he ended up with only a short term memory problem. While he can function really well with me around, he does not do well if I’m not there. He gets very scared if he has to make a decision or do something on his own. He just doesn’t trust himself anymore or he forgets that he’d doing something (like cooking). We had our wills made, we had power of attorney’s done with a trusted friend made a second in case something happened to me. She was willing to accept the job of looking after Larry’s affairs. We were already debt free. I owed no car payment or house payment so any life insurance would be for him to use. Once this was all done, I was at peace and ready to move on with my life.

I finally got done with all the testing to see if I was able to meet the guidelines for the surgery by BCBS. That psychological test was a doozy but I really enjoyed talking to the psychologist. Larry and I were both in there talking to him and he made the comment that he thought we were both ready for the surgery. He was thrilled I had so much support from Larry. For me, there was never any doubt. Well, this was the last hoop I had to jump through except for blood tests. From here on, it was up to MMPC and the insurance company.

I waited about 3 weeks to hear from MMPC on a surgery date. I thought they were still waiting for BCBS to make a decision. I called BCBS and they said that as long as I met the guidelines, I didn’t need an approval. Hmmm. I called MMPC and told them what BCBS had said. They checked my records and said yes, that’s right. I didn’t understand why then, they hadn’t called to schedule. Well, it seems the local hospital hadn’t faxed the results from my blood tests down to MMPC. I called the hospital and they said yes they had. I asked them to re-fax them down and they did. I then called MMPC back and they said they were coming in right then. I told the girl I thought they should have called me when they didn’t get the results the first time. Somebody dropped the ball. She then said that once the PA checked the results, then everything would be sent to the scheduler.

A few days later, I got the call (it’s now the end of April). Let’s schedule a date. Great. Except, I’m heading to Vegas May 7^th and I don’t want to be on an 800 calorie diet while I’m out there. OK, no problem. We can schedule the surgery for June but the earliest date is June 14^th. I say no, that won’t work because Larry has to get his defibrillator checked that day. OK, how about June 16^th. Yes, that works. YEAH!!! I have a date, now I start getting nervous. Am I doing the right thing. More talking with Larry and a few other people that I trust on what I’m doing. They all are very supportive so I know I’m doing what needs to be done.

I went on my high protein diet on June 1^st. This was two weeks of mostly liquids and some protein bars. I didn’t think I could do it but my mind was made up and I had no problems with the diet. If I couldn’t make it those two weeks, I’d never be able to make the lifestyle change that would help the surgery work. I had no problems cooking meals for Larry while I had my protein meal. I didn’t crave anything which was very unusual. I was not able to ever do that before so I knew I was committed.

June 16^th, surgery day. We get to Spectrum Health early. I’ve done the pre-admission stuff so we just go up to the surgery floor. I am poked, prodded and put into the usual stylish hospital gown. There is an old lady next to me in the room who is complaining all the time about the surgical booties hurting her feet, they were too tight. Does she say anything to the nurse when she comes in? No, she says nothing and then starts complaining after she leaves. I just want to reach over and slap her silly and tell her to shut up. I’m now worried that those booties will hurt my feet too. They finally get that lady out of there and it’s my turn with the booties. Hey, these don’t feel too bad. They kind of massage your feet to keep the blood flowing. My feet were cold anyway so the extra massage makes me feel better. I then get my first injection of Lovanox. This is not put into your arm, it’s put in your belly. I thought it would really hurt but it didn’t. We then head downstairs to the surgery prep room. Once we got there, Lisa my friend came in just a bitching. She got caught in the change of traffic streets and had to go out of the way to find the hospital. I got lucky because we got there early enough to avoid that. She finally settled down and we were all ok. After what seemed like forever, we noticed it was past the time for the surgery. One of the nurses came and said the person ahead of me was taking longer and that it’d probably be noon before I get into the OR. Great! It was only 10:00. In the meantime, I was getting more Lovanox injections but even worse, I was sick and tired of laying on my back on that little gurney. It was not comfortable. I asked if I could sit up and they helped me up. Boy did that feel good. About 11:30, Dr. Foote came in and we talked again. I was a bit nervous but after he came, I was ok. I told him that I had people praying for him. He said he appreciated that and that he’d see me in the OR. I don’t remember too much after that.

I woke up in the recovery room and there was Dawn. Dawn’s a member of Las Vegas International, a bulletin board for Vegas lovers. She is a nurse and was able to get in to the recovery room to see how I was doing. She brought me a little “Ann” bear that I just hugged and held on to. She had also brought flowers from her and Peanuts (another member). They were really beautiful.

Best of all, she was able to go tell Larry & Lisa that I was ok and was ready to go to my room but it might be a little while because it was shift change time. While they were waiting for me to get to a room, Lisa took Larry to the desk so he could check in for his hospitality room. The girl there was so nice. I had made arrangements beforehand for this and had told them of his short term memory problem so she took him and Lisa and showed him exactly how to get to the room. They did have a problem later when trying to get from the hospitality room to my room but another hospital employee took them in hand and showed them exactly what elevator to use to get up to my floor and room and then to go down to the cafeteria and how to get outside. I am so grateful to the friendly, helpful employees at Blodgett.

Two days later I was released and on my way home to my new life. Wow, what a difference. I drank one ounce of protein drink every hour and had to sip water in between times. I was feeling great. I got home on Sunday and was out on my bike by Tuesday. Everything was going good until Friday. I woke up with a fever, I had pain in my lower left side, I didn’t want to “eat”. I called the surgeon’s office and they told me I had to go to the ER at Blodgett. We got there at 1:30 and sat and waited – forever. It was 4:00 before I got into a room. The PA from MMPC was there (Dr. Foote was at the hospital too just in case). They did all kinds of tests, the last being a CAT scan of my belly. They couldn’t find anything wrong so they discharged me. I figured it out later that I had very bad gas pains.

I went back to work the next Monday. I probably should have taken a second week off because I was so tired but my boss was very understanding and I toughed it out. A couple weeks after the surgery, there was a get together of employees for a husband that was being called to Iraq. There was a wonderful meal of pulled pork, all kinds of salads, baked beans, etc. Boy did it smell good but I sat there and ate my Blue Bunny Carb Freedom Yogurt. At this time, the city manager asked me if I was on a diet. I told him I thought everyone knew that I had gastric bypass surgery. I think he was the only one (along with the city treasurer) who didn’t know. He’s become one of my best supporters.

I have to say thanks to Gino, Les, Molly, Sue, Dawn and later on Linda for keeping my secret. These are the people on the LVI bulletin board that knew and have not said anything. I’m planning on a big party in Vegas once I lose my weight. On the other hand, I didn’t tell my brother and sister in law I had the surgery. I will see them the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we’re going to set up a scenario to see if they recognize me. I’m going to try to be standing with my back to them. They’ll be really surprised.

"Spruced-Up" by AnnoyingLizard