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Surgeon TestimonialBrenda Cacucci, M.D.I was very uncertain about Dr. Cacucci the first time I met her. She is tall, very thin and I thought way too young to have enough experience in bariatric surgery and too thin to have any empathy for the morbidly obese. She seemed very businesslike too. However, after asking several questions during the initial consultation and then more in our 1:1 meeting I began to change my attitude. She has done more than 1,000 lap RNY's and has a very low complication rate. She is compassionate and caring too. Dr. Cacucci is a highly skilled surgeon who takes her profession seriously. She expects her patients to treat their new pouch with respect and emphasizes the need for aftercare. Overall, she is an excellent bariatric surgeon. If you're looking for someone to coddle you thru the process she's not for you. If you want someone to take good care of you and expect you to follow her advice then Dr. Cacucci is your doctor. Latest Surgery Support Comments
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Hey Lisa! Just
wanted to stop by
and wish you a
"Happy Rebirthday"!
Hope that all is
well and you are
resting now. I pray
that you have the
speediest of
recoveries and that
you feel God's peace
and love surround
you during this
time. Take care &
God Bless You~~~Lisa
 Comment by Dray on 1/24/06 8:15 am
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Obesity Help Conference in Lexington, KY on October 28, 2006 12:00 am
October 28, 2006
Trip Report on Obesity Help Conference in Lexington, KY 10/27 & 10/28
Just wanted to let you all know this was an EXCELLENT conference! It was jam-packed with pertinent info and support for WLS people pre and post-op. I have been to many different kinds of conferences over the years (other than WLS) and this one far exceeded my expectations. The speakers were almost entirely all post-ops themselves so were very realistic and knowledgeable about WLS. There were breakout sessions on emotional eating, nutrition, breaking plateaus, relationship and boundary issues, exercise using resistance bands and balls, plastic surgery, lapband stuff, revision surgery..you name it they had it! The atmosphere was warm, friendly and so inviting. I felt like I was amongst friends and made several new ones in Lexington. The OH staff are such amazing people. It is so obvious how much they all love their jobs. In addition, the conference was well-organized! Unbelievable..
Lynette and I stayed at the conference hotel. It was held at the Radisson in downtown Lexington. The hotel is centrally located, easy to get to and connected by enclosed walking tunnels to many other downtown businesses, hotels and restaurants. We were just steps away from a Starbuck's! ...literally! We also found this excellent bar/grill that served lowfat turkey chili (257 cals) for 3.59 and it was award-winning! YUMMY
The hotel rooms were clean, had down comforters and sleep number beds. We had fun trying to figure out our personal sleep numbers..LOL
There were several vendors offering info/samples and discounts on their products. The vendors were surgeons, personal trainers, WLS post-ops, etc. I now have a new favorite product..Achiev One protein drinks! OMG are they good! Lynette and I were able to get several samples thru the conference. Then she won a whole case at the closing ceremony! And the generous person that she is shared some w/me! We also tried some Bariatric Advantage chewable mult-vitamins, chewable iron and calcium citrate lozenges. For those of you "book-club" members these are the same ones Susan gave us to try. In addition to the chocolate and mint they had some awesome cinnamon ones. I would highly recommend these over the other flavors.
Friday night they had a wonderful masquerade ball w/a DJ..it was blast! I will post a few pics when I get a chance. There was a pumpkin carving contest (we were given those cool Styrofoam pumpkins you can actually carve w/a butter knife) and we won a prize for ours! We carved the Obesity Help logo on the front (it is in the pics) The ballroom where the party was held was really nice and they had wonderful fresh fruit, sugar-free jell-o and crystal lite lemonade (in fancy glasses w/fresh lemons). There was a costume parade and contest (we didn't win..darn!) but, had a blast looking at everyone. There was a guy dressed like Colonel Sanders and he looked like he just stepped off the bucket of chicken! We cracked-up!
All in all it was well worth the money and I would go again in a second! I would highly recommend going to a future event if you get a chance!
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9 Months Post-op and at a HEALTHY weight! on October 23, 2006 12:00 am
October 23, 2006
I had my 9 month post-op appt.today and I am officially in the "healthy" BMI category! I weigh 140lbs. I would like to lose about 10 more lbs. My surgeon and the dieticians say that is the lowest I should go. I had to promise that I would start adding more calories once I lose 5 more lbs. I can't even begin to say how shocking it is that people are now concerned I may get TOO THIN!! Me??! Too THIN?!! Never in a million years did I think I'd hear those words spoken about me. In some ways I thought I would never get to this weight..it seemed to take so long. But, in others I am astounded at how fast my weight loss has happened. Does that make sense? I have been so focused on losing that I didn't quite realize it when I got here..I kept thinking about reaching the next milestone. First it was to be under 250, then in the "obese" BMI range, under 200 and so on. To be at a healthy weight for the first time since I was very little seems strange and so unfamiliar. I think it is going to take some time to let this really sink in. I catch my reflection in a mirror and sometimes wonder who that is..I have spent so many years avoiding looking at myself that I hardly recognize this person I've become. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to live the rest of my life at a healthy weight. WLS no doubt saved me from so many future obesity related illnesses. I know that this journey is far from over and that some of the hardest work is yet to come. I still have many food demons and emotional eating to battle. Gastric bypass surgery can't take those away only I can.
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8 Months Post-Op and only 17 lbs to my goal weight! on September 28, 2006 12:00 am
September 28, 2006
Wow..can't believe how long it's been since I've updated my profile! I am now 17 lbs from my goal weight of 130lbs! I am wearing a size 8-10 and signed-up for my first 1/2 marathon in January! It will be at Walt Disney World and my husband and daughter are doing it also. I can't wait! I am still doing spinning classes, running and a variety of other workouts. Exercise is a main part of my life now and always will be. The only downer is that my weight loss has slowed significantly. I really want to be at my goal weight NOW..LOL I know it's going to take time...I'm just impatient. Also, the food demons are back and I know I've got to work at keeping them away. I didn't get to be morbidly obese w/o a great deal of binge eating and food issues. Several of us from WLSIndy.com are doing a book study on: Life is hard, food is easy a great book written about combating emotional eating. I know this will be a life-long struggle. I will write more soon..gotta run to spinnning class!
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Welcome to the Century Club! on July 20, 2006 12:00 am
July 20, 2006
Four days from 6 months post-op and I am down 99lbs! My goal is to be at the 100 lb mark by my 6 month appt on Monday. I sure hope I can make it! Life is good..I am finally feeling alot lighter. I can tell I am smaller not just going by sizes. I can feel bones I haven't felt in MANY years! My fitness level is really increasing now and my endurance too. I am doing about on average 4 spinning classes/week and running on alternate days. Both my daughter and husband have jumped on the fitness bandwagon. They are losing weight right along with me. This is so helpful not to have all the junk food/snacks/sweets in the house. It is easy not to even think about bingeing when there's nothing here to binge on! Oh..almost forgot I am no long OBESE! I am in the overweight category for my BMI is now 29.2! Never again will I be OBESE! I just hate that word.
July 21, 2006
I made it! I have lost 100.5 lbs! I weigh 163.5 as of yesterday! I posted the above before I weighed that day. Imagine my shock when I got on the scale and saw I met my goal! It is totally surreal to think I've lost this much weight in only 6 months. People constantly stop me and can't believe how good I look. This is such an amazing journey. Today is also the Brooks & Dunn concert at Verizon. My friend LeAnn is coming and we will meet up w/Courtney & Belinda at the concert. LeAnn is staying over and we will be doing another race in the morning. I am thrilled to tell everyone my news. What an exciting day!
July 22, 2006
This was an early day..especially after the late concert last night! LeAnn, Courtney, Belinda and I had fun at the Brooks & Dunn show. It started to rain towards the end so we left around 10ish. I still had to prepare my "bariatric-friendly" Ambrosia for todays brunch after the race. The race was called "Pound the Pavement" and was a benefit for an area runner who died suddenly from heart problems. It was held in Pendleton at the Falls park. The race began at 8am and we still had to register so arrived about 7:20 am. They had run out of size large shirts so I had no choice but to get a medium. Imagine my complete shock when it FIT! The race was fun. Several other WLS Indy people came: Bob and Jill, Wendy (Wendymples), Sue (Suewho) and Joey, Dean and Lisa, Melody, Lynette, Jerri, LeAnn and my hubby Rob. I decided to walk the race since I didn't know the course and thought it might be hilly. Sure glad I didn't try to run it as it was very slippery in spots (from the rain) and I probably would've broken something. Rob took 2nd place in his age group for walkers! He finished at 37 mins! We were all amazed. He got an award (water bottle)there was also a health fair at the race. I got me blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure checked. My blood sugar was 77 and I wasn't even fasting! My cholesterol was 125! and my blood pressure was 100/60! WOW simply amazing what losing 100lbs will do for your health, huh??!!...then it was off to Sue's house for brunch. Several other people met up there from the Anderson area. I met another Lisa, Ellen, then Heather H. came (preop) w/her kids too. The brunch was really nice! We had scrambled eggs, fruit, veggies, flatbread toasted w/splenda and cinnamon, cheese, SF apple crisp and my ambrosia. It turned out to be a really nice day and we sat outside visiting for several hours. Bob and Jill just adopted a new basset hound and brought him for a visit! What a cutie. They decided to name him Oliver. He kept us entertained playing w/Sue's overweight golden named Lucky. After we left in the afternoon LeAnn and I decided to do some shopping. We hit the consignment store where LeAnn found some great deals then off to flower factory and marshall's. I got home around 7:30 ate some dinner and was really pooped! what a day!
July 24, 2006
Today was my 6 mos appointment. Dr. Cacucci was thrilled to see I've lost over 100 lbs in 6 mos! She is normally kinda stoic so I was shocked to see her get so excited. She did say we may need to add some more calories if I get down too low. Me? Too low..yeah right! She is 100% certain I will get to my goal weight. She wants to see me around 135..not lower than 130. I totally agree. Can't wait to see that weight! Melinda the dietician gave me a t-shirt for the 100lb loss and was very happy for me too. She took pics and also measurements. I have lost over 44 inches! Incredible! Then after my appt I hit Goodwill for some clothes. I tried on 12's and these all fit! Then, I saw the cutest skort in a size 10. I thought Ok I will buy it even if I can only get it over my hips I will be able to wear it soon enough..well, it FIT! A size 10! I almost started crying right in the dressing room! I don't remember EVER being in a size 10!
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5 months post-op and losing, losing, losing! on June 25, 2006 12:00 am
June 25th, 2006
Well, it has now been 5 months since my surgery and I have lost 88 lbs! I am down to 176 lbs now! My next goal is to be at the 100 lb loss by my 6 month checkup July 21st. Between spinning classes 3-4 times/week and running the other few days I surely have a good chance to get there. I am feeling really good and can tell now by looking in the mirror that I've lost a great deal of weight. Sometimes I forget and avoid looking..or think I can't fit in tight spots..it's kinda weird how much of a habit that was for me. It is also amazing the constant flow of compliments. People who barely know me come up and tell me how wonderful I look. It's a bit like being a celebrity. I can't sneak in and melt into the crowd.
Quite an adjustment!
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