July 20th, 2006: I'm a 39 year old woman with a BMI of 62.8 which is down from 64.2 on July 13th. I am hypothyroid, hypertensive, I have arthritis, and I have some degenerative disc damage in my lumbar spine. I am from a family with a horrendous history of hypertension, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes, so I am at an awfully high risk of all of those. I'm waiting for my surgeon and insurance company to get me approved and off to the hospital for my pre-op so that they can set my surgery date. Thankfully, I have no cardio or pulmonary issues to stall my surgery. I've never had any apnea indications either. But, I need this surgery so that I can drop this weight and take back control of my life and health. I make candles, soaps, lotions, and other body products. I also sell raw materials, packaging, and other supplies to other folks who do the same via a website (http://www.candleandsoapstuff.com/) which I designed and maintain myself. I've been working for like FOREVER on a site to sell finished products, but just seem to spend ALL my time on the supply business instead. That is at http://www.almostheavenhandmade.com/ We live on a farm in central West Virginia. We have horses and other pets including sheep, dogs, cats, and pet birds (parakeets & cockatiels).

I enjoy reading and learning! I am currently immersed in learning all I can about life after bariatric surgery. I was told by my bariatric surgeon that he saw no reason for my insurance company to deny me approval for the surgery, so my fingers are crossed there! If all goes well with the approval process, he said that I could be post-op before my kids go back to school on August 25th of this year!



Update: July 26th, 2006 Well, after touching base with my surgeon's office today, I was told that my paperwork still had not left their office to go to the insurance company for approval! I had been told on July 13 that it would only take a week to ten days to get it all ready to send off. But, as of today, it is still on the surgeon's desk and has not been given to the girl who faxes it off to the insurance company. Disappointing to say the least. I've paid what I needed to pay before they could send anything off. Now I'm just waiting....biding my time....and worrying that I won't make the date that I needed to. My kids go back to school on Aug 25th. My doc said he does your pre-ops a week ahead of that. If they don't send my stuff off to the insurance company till Monday or Tuesday and it takes a week or so for them to send anything back, that means they won't hear back till the week of Aug 7th to 11th. In order to do the pre-op a week ahead and have the surgery and be home by the 24th, I need to do pre-op no later than Aug 14th! This is just TOO close for comfort at this point. I also have a trip to Chicago in October that has been planned for a year already. I need to be a month post-op by then for my surgeon to allow me to travel. SO, that is another time-crunching factor for me. Planning meals for that trip will be stressful enough! I didn't want to have to worry about being healed up enough to go! UGH... That all sounds negative... Time to focus on something positive--like my post-op life goals. I've been giving this a lot of thought ever since my psych eval back on July 13th...

Here's what I have at this point:

1) Ride horses with my hubby.

2) Fit into a pair of blue jeans that can be locally purchased—none of the full figure catalog stuff! I can't FIND a pair of jeans that will pull up around these thighs and hips, let alone zip and button! I sooooo want to be "normal" enough to be able to find a cute pair of comfy jeans at Walmart or the mall!  DONE!!

3) Take my kids to Washington DC and spend our days walking around historic locations. When I was in 7th grade, my Beta Club group went to Washington, DC and took a week long sight-seeing trip. I loved it as I am a history buff anyway. I want to take my kids and do it all over! But I want it to be on foot and not in a wheelchair!

4) Take my kids to an amusement park and spend all day riding rides with them. Gosh... I can't remember the last time I was even ON a ride at an amusement park! And, I think the one it was would have been one of those boats like in Pirates of the Carribean at Disney World--no seat restraint involved, so size wasn't an issue....

5) Weigh less than 300 pounds. DONE!!

6) Lose 100 pounds. DONE!!

7) Weigh less than 200 pounds.

8) Lose 200 pounds.  DONE!!

9) Be able to walk 1 mile down our road and all the way back home (which is partially up hill both ways) without stopping for resting.   DONE!!

10) Work a full 8 hour day again. I am a certified teacher for social sciences in grades 5 through 12. I've been unable to work or even secure a teaching job in the last 6 years due to my health and prejudice against obese people. In that time, I have built an online business selling supplies and raw materials to folks who make handcrafted soaps, lotions, candles, and other assorted body products/scented items. I'm currently way behind on my order processing shipping time because I'm just so darned tired all the time and have no get-up-and-go! DONE!!

11) Get off high blood pressure medicine. I've only needed it since late 2005, but I hate having to take it! DONE!!

12) Get off pain meds. I know that the surgery won't cure my arthritis or my degenerative back problems. But, dropping the weight and being able to exercise and, thereby, strengthen the muscles that support my knees and spine will make a huge difference. With my high pain tolerance, I should be able to get off the pain meds.  DONE!!

13) Reach my goal weight of 185--235 pounds less than my weigh in at my surgeon. I'm not sure yet what my surgeon's goal weight for me will be, but this is what I've worked out in my head...  I'll be happy at 185!

14) Find a sexy nighty and matching undies that fit and make me feel sexy and show hubby that I MADE IT! He has been very supportive and wants me to be healthy again. He tells me all the time that he loves me just like I am but that he'll support me in anything I do. I can't ask for more than that! He pays the bills AND he supports me emotionally... He's a great father and a good provider.

Some of it sounds silly to some folks. Some of it seems normal for this journey. None of it sounds too extreme! But, these are where I'm starting!


Update: August 10th, 2006 Well, it happened..... I got the approval from my insurance company today! They insisted that I get new Thyroid testing done before they approved me, but my numbers came back okay (a bit higher than the high end of the "normal" scale, but good for me!) and they approved me! My surgeon has me set for surgery on August 29th, 2006. I didn't get the pre-op done by August 13th as I'd hoped, but this is progress none the less! And, August 29th is my hubby's birthday which he says makes it a lucky day for us. I will have my pre-op testing on August 23rd and then surgery on August 29th. And, I got weighed today. I am now down to 393.5 pounds, which is 16.5 pounds less than the 410 I was on July 13th when I started logging my food intake and tracking my weight. I hope to have 20 pounds off by the time I have the surgery. A drop in the bucket off of my initial 410, but a good start for a pre-op patient! That puts my BMI at 61.6.



Update: August 20th, 2006 Just hanging in there, waiting for my pre-op testing and surgery... This Weds (8/23), I have to be in Charleston at 8:40 am for my pre-op testing. There will be bloodwork done at Dr. Stickler's office followed by some educational sessions regarding what to expect after surgery and post-op eating stages. I've been told by others who've been through Dr. Stickler's program that you are given handouts on the different stages and what you can eat in each. Dr. Stickler already told me that it is clear liquids only while at the hospital and that once you go home you move into the pureed/blenderized stage. You are in that stage, I belive, until the 3 month post-op mark at which time you are able to add in softer foods without them being blended. I've heard mention of eggs, thinly sliced deli meats, cheese, steamed veggies, etc. I ordered several samples and I've been trying different protein shakes but have not bought any of them in a larger quantity. Dr. Stickler commented, at my initial consultation with him, that your tastes are likely to change once you're post-op and not to buy too much of any one thing as there is a chance you won't like it anymore! And, there is also the chance that you may become lactose intolerant too. If this happens, a shake powder that you like when mixed in milk, but not when mixed in water becomes a less than desirable choice.

SO, for now, I've been sampling the different ones--Matrix, Unjury, Protein Delite, Nectar, etc, and looking for some that I like. I've used Unjury's unflavored protein in creamed soups and couldn't even tell it was there unless you took a really deep whiff of the stuff. You could smell it a bit at that point, but you cannot taste it. I plan to try the Any Whey sold by GNC this week as it is another unflavored protein powder. You can add unflavored protein powder to just about anything you eat or drink--pudding, jello, soups, beverages, anything that is moist enough to absorb the protein powder. I'm thinking that unflavored protein is going to be a big must for me as I don't care terribly much for the chocolatey drinks and you can only tolerate so many glasses of vanilla. The flavor syrups may be an option, but none of the SF ones are available in my area. I'd have to pay shipping on those....

As my surgery date gets closer (just 9 more days!), I am stressing a bit over who will get the kids to the bus and back, get them home on Friday evening after the football games (they are both in Marching Band at Braxton County High School--Go Eagles!), etc. We live 30 minutes from the school and the football field, so me not being home or able to drive is a big issue. We also have to take them 3 miles each way to their school bus stop. SO, that is an issue as well. I'm also trying to get my house straightened a bit. My girls are very resistant to helping with household chores. I have to make them do their share.... Dishes, sweeping or mopping a floor, taking out the trash... Simple chores that most folks take as expected every day duties they fight tooth and nail. They've sort of started to do better. Their dad has been after them a good bit about helping more, especially as I prepare for my surgery. He is a trucker, and not home every day, or they'd be better about doing as asked as he is the only disciplinarian that they respect. I've tried talking to them, reasoning with them (if you CAN reason with teenage girls!), bribing them, taking privileges away as punishment, and more. With my back and knee issues, I can't stand for very long at a time. Just the time it takes to do dinner dishes for 3 people (when hubby is on the road) is a great strain on my back. It doesn't take 15 minutes to wash the dishes and wipe down the counters, but they spend an hour trying to get out of it! LOL They have minimal outside chores as well--giving a bit of grain to the horses, feeding the dogs...nothing that couldn't be done in 15 minutes each day as well.

With all the stress of preparing home and family for my surgery and down time (as well as my business), I have NO time to get nervous or anxious about the surgery. I am very excited to begin my new life as a loser!




Update: August 23rd, 2006 Today was Pre-Op Testing Day!! I had to have blood drawn, an EKG, meet with the anesthesiology folks, and have a chest xray. We also had an educational session with the surgeon's nurse regarding what to expect before surgery, immediately after surgery, while in the hospital, and thereafter. The testing at the hospital took forEVER. They were soooo backed up that I sat for an hour before they even called me back. I wasn't a happy camper since it had been over 15 hours since I'd had anything to drink or eat. And then they had the nerve to ask for a urine specimen! LOL By the time I was able to leave the hospital, I'd been there almost 3 hours!

Though everything turned out okay, it was pretty stressful as every time I blinked, I was stuck waiting again... I have two surgery buddies (folks having surgery the same day by the same surgeon at the same hospital) who will be along for the ride when we have educational workshops at our 3, 9 and 18 month checkups. Other checkups will be just me and the doctor or his staff. We're very fortunate that we didn't have any sort of long specified diet to follow for days or even weeks before surgery. We only do a clear liquids day the last day before our surgery and nothing to eat or drink after 9 pm the night before surgery. No bowel prep! How lucky is that?? I still remember doing the bowel prep before my tubal in 1995. NASTY!

On a good note, I am now down to 386 and have lost a total of 24 pounds! My surgeon is happy about that and I am too! For my surgeon, it means an easier time doing the surgery. For me, it is a great start towards my weight loss goal and Dr. Stickler says it is a good indicator of future success.

We got a list of the diet plan for the weeks immediately post-op. We are on clear liquids only while in the hospital. As soon as we're released, we move to full liquids. There are a lot of food options but, as you all know, our number one goal is to stay hydrated and get our protein in. I picked up some of the liquid ProtiDiet today for those first few days post-op (while in the hospital), but plan to pretty much go with an unflavored protein powder that I can add to most anything as my primary protein source for that full-liquids phase. I have ordered several sample size proteins and will use those to figure out what I like as I am healing from surgery... Who knows what my tastes will be by then! Just 6 more days till surgery!



Update: September 6th, 2006 Wow, quite a while between updates and lots to say! After the pre-op testing, I had my "last supper" so to speak. I took my girls to our favorite steakhouse. It is a great place with a couple of hot bars, an extensive salad bar, and desserts out the you-know-what plus warm, buttery yeast rolls---YUM! While I have eaten there since I started my pre-op diet, I had eaten a nice healthy green salad and then only protein items, no roll and no dessert. This time, I had the dinner I would have wanted! I had a wonderful salad chock full of fresh tomatoes with the Russian salad dressing I love. I also had a couple of slices of watermelon and fresh pineapple. Then, I had a perfect piece of medium steak, a baked potato, green beans, AND a yeast roll with honey-butter. I did not have dessert because I just didn't have room. After six weeks of eating right and chew, chew, chewing, by the time I ate my meal, there truly was no way I could have eaten dessert without being sick. That alone is progress! That was my real-deal-last-supper. BUT, just to appease that side of us all that craves a cheeseburger and fries, we happened to be out another day and ended up grabbing lunch at Wendy's. Since my diet started, this would normally mean a salad or chili and sandwich for me. But, since I was about to have my surgery and who knows how long it will be (or ever) before I can eat even a part of a hamburger AND because they had this "melt" sandwich that just screamed my name (two slices of cheese, sauteed onions.....yummy!), I ordered a "normal" combo with the melt sandwich, fries, and unsweet tea (don't need to change that habit!). I admit that the sandwich was good. But, the fries hardly even tasted good anymore. They were hot and fresh and perfect for any french fry lover. But, they just were no longer "good" to me. I've so convinced myself that I don't want or need the carbs anymore that I didn't even eat half of them. I gave them to my daughter and she split them with the dog! I was proud of myself! Did I endulge any other cravings over that last weekend?? Yes--my love for fresh watermelon! I ate about 3 cups of diced watermelon that weekend. I grew up in a small town in FL where the watermelon harvest was a big part of the economy and we all ate it for as many weeks as they were cutting them locally.... I could never get enough fresh watermelon! I guess there are worse things--like candy or chocolate, but 3 cups?? Wow!

My hubby ended up not making it home for my surgery. I knew it was working out that way several days in advance. But, I refused to postpone my surgery as it was terribly possible (he is a trucker) that it would happen all over again for my rescheduled surgery, so it was on! A couple who lives near us and works in Charleston, where the surgery would take place--an hour from our home, gave me a ride to the hospital on 8/29. I had to be at their house at 5 am to catch the ride. I was supposed to be at CAMC by 7:30 am, so I was there a whole hour early. I spent that hour sitting in the lobby reading... Even this extra time did give me a chance to get nervous, anxious, or worked up about the surgery. I was perfectly calm and know that this was my fate. I was destined to have this surgery. At 7:30, I signed in at the pre-op window. Then, I waited some more! Finally, about 8 am, they called me in to start getting ready. They weighed me (175.8 kg or 386.7 pounds--no weight lost since my pre-op day) and I changed out of my clothes into the robe and slipper socks. Then, I sat and waited some more! I was getting good at waiting! LOL A transport person came to get me with a gurney about 8:30. Not bad, could still make my 9 am appointment for surgery! LOL This, however, was just a transport to the waiting area outside the ORs. I sat and waited long enough that I had to get a nurse to take me to the bathroom! Then, the anesthesiologist came to talk to me, I signed the final consent, and he put in my IV. He gave me "something to take the nerves away" which was just a mild sedative. Then, about 9:30 am, they wheeled me into the OR. I remember sliding over onto the operating table from the gurney and then nothing until recovery...not even the counting backwards as the anesthesia kicked in. I must have gone under immediately after they started it!

The recovery room was another story! I remember that well! I remember the nurses saying that it was 11:05 (not sure if I'd just gotten there or if I was just finally conscious enough to remember) am and that I was "an easy intubation" (guess that was someone from anesthesiology!). I was shaking soooooo hard! They asked me my name and date of birth. They asked me what type of surgery I'd had. I had been told in advance that I'd have to answer some questions to make sure I was okay before they started any pain medication. Then, they told me that my pain meds were on the way and asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. I think I said NINE! And I could not stop the shaking. They started putting warmed blankets over me and asked me if I was sure I wasn't cold. I said I didn't know. By the time they got to the 3rd blanket, the shaking was letting up, so I guess that was part of it! The pain meds were in me by then, the blankets had warmed me, and they asked me to relax my body. I then realized that I was tensed up from my head to my toes. When I let go and layed back, it was quite a relief. By this point, I guess the pain was about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. But, as I relaxed and the pain medication began to work, I went to sleep again. The next thing I remember was being moved from the gurney into my bed in my own room. And, being asked about my pain level at that point. I told them 8 again and was given more pain medication in my IV. Then, I slept on and off for about 2 hours, being woken every so often for vitals checks.

Finally, they came in, pulled the covers off of me and said it was time to get up! I had also been warned about this! LOL But, I had no idea how unready I'd be for it! They had me sit up on the side of the bed for a minute. Then, they sent me to the bathroom. Then, they had me go out in the hallway with my IV pole and walk a ways before I could go back to bed to rest again. For the rest of that first day, each time they came for vitals, they encouraged me to get up and walk again. It was hard and extremely painful, but I tried to walk even if just to go to the bathroom and back (maybe 30 feet total). The nurses weren't quite happy with me, but it was all I could do...

On the second day, I woke up and was told that they wanted me out of bed at least once every hour. And, they wanted me to walk the hallway and back at least every 2 hours. They also informed me that when I had gotten in 20 oz of fluids on my fluid intake log, they'd pull out my IV. They also stopped the IV pain medications and started me on Oxycodone. Dr. Stickler said it was important to do so in order to be sure they could control my pain with the pills so that I'd be okay once I went home... The first day of taking pills, I was taking 2 tablets of 5 mg Oxycodone every 2 hours. I was only down to about every 3-4 hours by the time I left the hospital on Thursday afternoon. I was in so much pain that I wasn't able to walk enough to appease the nurses. But, I kept at it and was told I was doing better by the latter part of Wednesday afternoon.

They gave me 2 injections of a blood thinner on Weds and a third on Thursday (to help prevent blood clots). I was given 2 suppositories on Weds in order to stimulate a bowel movement. Thankfully it happened after 2 or I was getting a 3rd! Having the bowel movement and starting to pass gas was truly the beginning of feeling better. I even had gas pains in the front of my left shoulder! Having a bowel movement hurt. Passing gas hurt. But, living with all that trapped gas in my body was even more painful!

On Thursday, I was woke up at 7 am with a SCALE by my bed! "Ms. Burnside, we need to get your weight..." I must say that this was like living out a morbidly obese person's worst nightmare! To wake up from a dead sleep to a scale by your bed and being forced to get on it! And, to make it worse, I had gained weight due to the IV fluids! I was up to 178.1 kg (391.8 pounds). Then,they tell you that the only way you get to lay in the bed for a nap is if you are ahead on your fluid intake by one full hour and have been up and walking. I was in a lot of pain again, so not walking nearly as much as I should have been, but I did manage to get ahead on my fluids. I was then allowed a whole HALF HOUR nap! By closing my door before I took it, I was actually able to get a full hour in before they realized I was still asleep! And, by the time I was woke up, it was time for my next pain meds thankfully. The rest of the day was fairly quiet until time for my ride home... When my girlfriend showed up to get me, we got my stuff rounded up and a nurse took me down. We got all the way to the lobby before either one of us realized that they never took out my IV spike! SO, we went all the way back up to the bariatrics floor for that to be done and then all the way back down to the lobby. The ride home was uneventful, but sore... Thankfully it was mostly interstate and somewhat "smooth" or at least as smooth as rural 4 lane highways can be... The last 5 miles to my home were the worst due to potholes, sharp turns, and rougher roads...

By the time I was home, I needed pain pills and a nap! I had no pain pills but I could at least get that nap in before my girls were due home. When my girls got home from school, I sent my daughter to get my prescriptions filled (pepcid AC and Oxycodone). That first evening home was touch and go. I was so sore and so tired. I finally got and was able to start taking my medications. I was allowed full fluids, but was sticking to clear liquids. I still didn't feel ready for "food" in my pouch... During the hospital days, from day one, they brought us 3 meals a day that consisted of the following: a styrofoam cup of hot water with a decaf tea bag and decaf coffee packet, a styrofoam cup of broth, a styrofoam cup of juice (apple--cut 50/50 with water), a protein packet (YUCK!), and a cup of diet jello and bottle of water. The first meal tray was lunch on Tuesday. I never touched the first bit of it. They brought it in and took it out! By that evening, I was still sipping water only and the nurse encouraged me to try something else. I agreed to try the jello (lime) and was sort of disgusted by it (not real fond of lime!). She offered a different flavor and brought me a cherry. I was actually able to eat about 1/4 of it. She also advised me to pull off the protein pouches and the bottled water and save them in my drawer. On Weds, that was all I did--pull off the protein and bottle of water and tuck them in the drawer. When they came to take my breakfast tray, they set all the stuff off of it onto my cart and left it there! I did eventually try the apple juice. It wasn't terribly disgusting, so I asked for a cup of ice to put in it and actually drank it all as part of my fluids that afternoon. But, I didn't touch the dinner tray. Finally, one of the nurses dumped out all those cups they were leaving behind and threw them away. I did eat a couple of sugar free popsicles that evening... Thursday was much the same--I didn't eat the tray items, but I did eat another popsicle. I was getting my fluids in, but it was mostly water.... This continued after I got home.

On Friday, 9/1, my girls went to school and I was home alone again... Being here alone made it hard to stick to getting up and walking instead of just napping and resting, but I did it! My hubby got home around 1 pm Friday and he kicked into "sick" mode--treating me as if I was an invalid and needed to stay in bed and rest.... I had to explain to him again that it was imperative I get up and walk some every hour or so... I continued to do clear liquids throughout Friday too. By Saturday, I was feeling well enough to want to try something thicker... I had a tablespoon of refried beans with a dash of salsa and shredded cheese on top. It went down well and stayed down. I had no queasiness or uncomfortable moments from it. SO, for that first day, that was my "real food" and more clear liquids. Over the course of the weekend, I tried a few different things that we hit for a minute with the hand blender/stick blender to blenderize it. One was a bit of chili. We blenderized it with a bit of cottage cheese, warmed it and then dropped in some shredded cheddar cheese. That went well. Another time was a ground hamburger patty blended with some jar spaghetti sauce and cottage cheese. That went down and stayed down. I even managed to nibble at and keep down (chewing very, very thoroughly) a sausage patty!

On Monday evening, my hubby had to head back to work. So, with more time on my hands, it was time to get a bit creative for dinner.... I had a small bowl of that burger/spaghetti sauce/cottage cheese blend from the night before. Here's what I did with it.

Beef, Broccoli, Cheese Bake

Brown some ground beef or use a pre-cooked hamburger patty (about 4 oz pre-cooked weight). Place in bowl with about 2 tablespoons of small curd, lowfat cottage cheese and about 2 tablespoons of a spaghetti sauce from a jar. Blenderize. Put a bit of broccoli cuts (small pieces) on to boil. Next, take a small casserole dish and pour some spaghetti sauce on the bottom as you would to start a lasagna. Then, spoon in the blenderized burger/cottage cheese/sauce mix and spread it out well. When broccoli has cooked for about 3 minutes, remove from heat and drain the water away. Spoon the broccoli pieces (about 1/4 cup total) over your casserole. Spoon in some lowfat ricotta cheese and spread it around. Spread on some more of the jar spaghetti sauce. Then, layer on some shredded cheese (mozarella, cheddar, asagio, whatever!) and some parmesan cheese. Bake this mini-caserole at about 375 degrees till all is bubbly hot and the cheese is melted on top.

I was only able to eat about 3 tablespoons of this and made sure to chew the broccoli especially well... My daughter tried it too and liked it even though it was blended to a paste... This dish would probably feed me dinner 2 1/2 to 3 times...



Update: September 6th, 2006 PM Okay, so I had my first post-op appointment at my surgeon's office today... The nurse took out my staples and my bulb drain. WAHOO!! I feel soooo much better now and am in so much less pain now. My daughter drove me down to Charleston for this despite the fact that I had not taken a pain pill since 3 am. I was sooooo happy to get this done. AND, even better--I weighed in at 375 pounds! SO, if you go by my pre-op weight of 386, that is an 11 pound loss in one week since surgery. If you go by my weight on Thursday morning of 391, it is 16 pounds lost in 5 days, but a lot of it was just peeing out those IV fluids again! LOL No matter how you look at it, 375 is 35 pounds lost since I first saw my surgeon on 7/13! How's that for progress?? I guess it is time to start measuring too? I'll have to put up a table for those things soon!



Update: September 19th, 2006 PM I managed to get by my doc's office today and get weighed. I am now at 364. That is 22 pounds lost since my surgery. My surgery was 3 weeks ago today. That is about a pound lost per day. Not quite as much lost as I was hoping, but good progress! SO, with the 22 pounds since surgery plus the 24 from before surgery, my total loss is now at 46 pounds. Woohoo!



Update: September 25th, 2006 PM I managed to get by my doc's office today and get weighed. I am now at 360. That is 26 pounds lost since my surgery. With the 26 pounds since surgery plus the 24 from before surgery, my total loss is now at 50 pounds. We were also released to exercise as of today! According to the Total Body Water numbers on my scale printout the last two times I've weighed, I am retaining about 8 more pounds of water than I was before surgery. Dr. Stickler says that this is probably due to not getting in my fluids and protein each day, so I have to try even harder to get it in!



Update: October 3rd, 2006 PM Had to go to the gynecologist today as I am now on the second week of very heavy menstrual bleeding. I'm talking bleeding so heavy that you might think miscarriage and not just period if I hadn't had a tubal in 1995! She did an exam, determined that there weren't any physical causes for the excessive bleeding, and then talked to me about what we would do to fix it... She believes that the bleeding is so bad because 1) my estrogen/progesterone balance has been off for a while now (way heavy on the estrogen side) and 2) the rapid weight loss has released tons more estrogen into my body from the disappearing fat cells. So, what was already somewhat off kilter is now WAY off kilter. I will be taking 4 birth control pills per day for 3 days. Then, will go to one pill a day (all for hormone regulation) as long as the bleeding has greatly decreased. She also changed the type of birth control pill to a slightly stronger pill than what I was taking... And, my weight (on her scale which is traditionally higher than my surgeon's office scale) is 355. That is a total of 55 pounds lost to date!



Update: October 11th, 2006 PM Today I had to go to the orthopedist as I am having awful heel pain and my knees are starting to feel the lack of NSAIDS in my system and are getting a bit more painful than before. I found out that the pain in my heel is not my heel spurs, but rather is a very tender/sensitive and tightly stretched achilles tendon. Nothing we can do for it but avoid wearing shoes that rub or aggravate that area.... Not much help! But, I did get cortisone shots in both knees, so I ought to be good for a while there as the shots usually last me 4-6 and sometimes even 8 weeks. By then, I'll have dropped even more weight and will be more regularly exercising and building up the muscles that should be supporting these arthritic and bone-on-bone knees of mine! PLUS, while I waited, I weighed myself and I am now at 349 on one of the sliding beam scales like are in most doctor's offices! Woohoo!! I am finally below 350! Now, on Friday, I will be able to see what my surgeon's scale says! So, I am hoping that it is even lower, but am soooooo thrilled with 349!

Update: October 13th, 2006 PM This evening, at my surgeon's support group meeting, I weighed in at 345! I'm so happy to see this continued progress! And, I'm joining Curves next week, so I'll start having better ways to exercise!

I'm still having bleeding issues, so my gynecologist just put me on a regular dose birth control pill. I'm soooo hoping that this is what finally fixes this problem! I'm sick of spending most of the month bleeding!

NOTE: Further updates will be part of my blog instead of part of "My Story."