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Surgeon TestimonialAndrew Duffy, M.D.Dr. Andrew Duffy is the best!!! He is with Yale University Bariatric Surgeons - a center for excellence and he is in with Dr. Robert Bell. I went to the seminar on 12/8/06 and listened attentively to all they had so say. Needless to say when Dr. Duffy presented I just knew that this is the guy I was looking for to do my surgery - he knew his stuff and he was kind and sensitive to my questions. I was getting frustrated because I could not get an appointment for my psych eval prior to 1/07 and he was kind enough to give me the name of Mark Gaynor, LCSW and I got an appointment right away. My paperwork was all complete and in Dr. Duffy's office by 1/2/07. Since I did not get a call with an appointment by 1/3/07, the very next day, I decided to e-mail Dr. Duffy on our Groupwise system that we use at Yale and I said \"I am hoping God places it in your heart to read this e-mail - I need a date!!!\" and he read it - I got a call with a date four days after. I feel confident and I know that I made the right decision. The staff is great, Jane, his nurse manager was great - she had R&Y a couple years ago and looks great and she used to work as an OR nurse where I work which is part of Yale too. Member Interests
- Artist/Muralist - I paint the most beautiful stills and christian art in acrylics on canvas
- Basketry - I love making beautiful dolls and gift baskets that are unique
- Hispanic/Latino - I was born in Panama, Republic of Panama came to US at age 24.
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I TONED MY MOJO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on January 31, 2008 5:55 am
Almost!!! I turned on my side and it did not spill over... I turned on my other side and it did not spill over... I stood up and pinched and could not pinch more than an inch and could not pull it all the way out... I lay flat on the bed it did not spill over to my sides.... I jumped up and look sideways in the mirror it was not sticking out..... I jumped on the bed and got on my knees - I saw the two tortillas when I stand become elongated socks hanging off my chest hanging skin now the remnant of my breats - but I could not find the mojo of my big jelly belly - it is almost ALLLLLLLLLLLL GOOOONNNEEE - I knelt down and it was not hanging - I stood up and it was not sagging - the only remnant some soft blubbery wrinkly skin in its place. At five days away from my Surgiversary I toned my MOJO - My Jelly Belly is now my Wrinkly Belly with the battlescars of a lifetime - from c-sections, to appendectomy, to hysterectomy, to gastric bypass to gastrostomy - I AM LOVING MY BELLY TODAY....
I WORKED MY WORKOUT (jogging, running, walking, stairs, treadmill, yoga, hot yoga, kickboxing, swimming, weights). When I can't go out I go galloping up the stairwell at work to the seventh floor back down to the lobby and back up several time - something different each day of the week and on the weekends I rock my broom and my vacuum as I clean or wash dancing to merengue and/or soca sweeping, cleaning, dusting all while dancing in tune to the music, gyrating and moving, twisting and turning having fun each step of the way. I keep it moving!
I ROCKED MY DIET: this week I had - Grilled Tilapia over spinach; Grilled Chicken Breast/broccoli; Curried Lentils w cubed chicken breast; Tilapia burrito w ff mozarella; ground turkey tortilla pizza w ff mozarella, herring with hot tomatoes - only ate 3 meals daily - never over 2-3 ounces at one sitting - and drank tons of water. Over the weekend I will have Eggface's Carnitas and Valgroce's Ricotta Fluff.
I FOLLOWED THE RULES OF THE TOOLS AND WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING 5 DAYS SHORT OF MY SURGIVERSARY I AM LOOKING FOR MY MOJO ON MY BELLY AND IT IS JUST NOTE THERE - IT IS GO GO GO GOOOONNNNEEE - ALMOST!!!
I have had this song stuck in my heart all week long (I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE) but this verse is stuck with me - these are the lyrics of that verse....
I pray for you
You pray for me
I love you
I need you to survive
I won’t harm you
With words from my mouth
I love you
I need you to survive
It is His will that every need be supplied
You are important to me
I need you to survive
Here is my January 2008 transition collage - where I can slowly see my jelly belly demise - goodbye jelly belly - hello wrinkly belly - It is all good!!!! God bless you reading my silly post. Gotta run it has been one busy week here. I LOVE YOU MY DEAR O.H. FRIEND! ROCK YOUR TOOL OR YOUR NON-TOOL WHICHEVER IT IS - WORK IT!!!
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One week away from my SURGIVERSARY!!! on January 29, 2008 4:21 am
I WOKE UP THIS MORNING WITH THIS SONG IN MY HEART
NEED YOU TO SURVIVE
I need you
You need me
We’re all a part of God’s body
Stand with me
Agree with me
We’re all a part of God’s body
It is his will that every need be supplied
You are important to me
I need you to survive
I pray for you
You pray for me
I love you
I need you to survive
I won’t harm you
With words from my mouth
I love you
I need you to survive
It is his will that every need be supplied
You are important to me
I need you to survive
One week away from my surgiversary I met my most important goal - I asked for a smaller frame to work in the vineyard and a bigger heart to love the people and it is done. I asked for mobility to walk freely and to breathe without coughing, wheezing and gasping and without the aid of a machine, I asked for health to overcome high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, diabetes, GERD, asthma and sleep apnea - I have not taken a single medication for any obesity related disease since the day of my surgery - I have normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar levels, normal lipid panel, normal hemoglobin and hematocrit, all normal labs, no gastroesophageal reflux nor sleep apnea and have not had to use any inhalers nor any medication whatsoever except my prescribed B12 shot once a month, 2 Tums daily and 1 Pepcid Complete. I am mobile, I am healthy, I have lost a grand total of 163 lbs from my highest weight of 285 lbs. I went from Size 28-30 to a Size 0. I am 5'5" tall. I thank God, I thank Dr. Duffy and I thank my O.H. family and I thank myself for the determination, the will and the courage to walk and continue to walk this journey until the day I die. Food has no control over me and I have come too far and refuse to go back!!!!! It is not an option!
I GOT GASSED!!! on January 25, 2008 6:00 am
Salamba Sirsana - Supported Headstand Yoga Pose - I did it! with my wrists pressed firmly to the floor and my palms clasped together and behind my head I inhale and I lift my knees off the floor walking my feet closer to my elbows - I lift my thighs and firm my shoulder blades - I exhale and I lift my feet away from the floor both of them at the same time and I am pointing them to the ceiling - in perfect alignment - this woman who could hardly get up a flight of stairs a year ago standing on her head in a yoga stance - the body feeling strong and relaxed, the brain feeling fortified - it was about the tenth time trying to do this stance - and I am doing it! I am focussed - I start thinking it is a wonder all the mojo on my belly is being held in place by spandex and lycra - even my "tetas" are in the little lycra top perfectly in place - toned mojo???? at one point in the beginning I thought all the mojo would defy gravity and come tumbling out the pants and bra and rest on my chin - but it didn't - I was feeling soooooooo proud of myself - I am in perfect shape - I lost my weight and hey look at me now - I can stand on my head - voila I can I hold it for 10 seconds? or 15? maybe 20? - I am shooting for the sky. I am working it or I was certainly trying until POP! POP POP POP POP POP POP!the sista next to me whose butt was still on the floor - at the level of my head! - decides to pass gas - it shouldn't bother me right? because I am concentrating right? because I am a nurse after all right? well that was the end of Salamba Sirsana the headstand fast became the sprawl your butt all over the floor Martita because this here sista hit the floor after inhaling a big whiff of smelly gas that stayed with me for hours - could not even enjoy my dinner last night - it was sooooooooo gross! Next time I stand on my head I am going to make sure the coast is clear - yoga or not! The gross smell is still with me - oh gross I got to get it out of my head ... I am all about love and sharing but this gas was the straw that broke this camel's back.... Doing yoga again tonight -- wondering if there is a gas mask????
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POSTING FOR LIFE on January 23, 2008 4:33 am
I SHALL NOT FORGET HOW THE LORD HAS BLESSED ME! I WILL THANK HIM DAILY AND HIS PRAISES SHALL FOREVER LIVE ON MY LIPS
THIS IS MY BATTLE OF A LIFETIME FOR LIFE AND I WILL NOT FAIL - ME AND MY TOOL IN PARTNERSHIP FOR LIFE! THE FORMULA WATER, PROTEIN AND MOTION - HOW DO I DO IT? I PRESS ON, PURSUE, PERSEVERE, PRAY AND PRAISE! IT WORKS FOR ME.....
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WOULD YOU DISS YOUR FAT LADY? on January 22, 2008 5:10 am
No siree! I have the utmost respect of her - she took charge of her life - she finally made up her mind and said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - THAT WAS THEN AND THIS IS NOW!!!! Take charge! work it! For life. My secret? I count on that fat lady that I once was - she wakes up with me each morning and says "come on Martita rise and shine - LET'S WORK IT! FOR LIFE! - Me and my tool in partnership for life.... Does your fat lady inspire you???? Mine is the force pushing me towards my goal - I abused her and she freed me - her deliverance is my release!!!!!
A CHANGE OF HEART, A RENEWED MIND AND A... on January 21, 2008 6:36 am
HEALTHY FOR LIFE - WORKING WITH MY POUCH IN PARTNERSHIP FOR LIFE - PRESSING ON AND PRAISING GOD - FOR MERCY AND FAVOR - SHARING MY VIDEO. Wait until loads then click on PLAY to see my video remix. I give God all the glory for all He has done for me. Pursue, Press On, Persevere, Pray and Praise!!!! I made it!!!! for LIFE....
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I GAVE IT TO THE SKINNY LADY - GUESS... on January 18, 2008 6:23 am
ME?????????????? LOL. The physical therapist was asking one of our patients for some documentation - she had actually handed them do me earlier and I put it in her chart - so she tells the physical therapist "I gave it to the skinny lady in the long blue skirt" guess who???????? TGIF - God bless you all my dear OH family. 11 months out - me and my pouch in partnership for LIFE - LET"S WORK IT!!!!
My Week So Far!!!! on January 17, 2008 5:29 am
I am going to post later, just started this and it got real busy -
SISTAS ON THE SAME JOURNEY!!! on January 16, 2008 5:57 am
Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't do what they're supposed to do. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end. BUT........ Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, grandaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life! The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still. SISTAS ON THE SAME JOURNEY FOR LIFE!!!
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To all the beautiful people!!! on January 14, 2008 6:54 am
To a Beautiful Person
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He listens.
He can live anywhere in the universe, but He chose your heart.
Face it friend, He is crazy about you! God didn't promise days
without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did
promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the
way.
My friend sent me this today and I receive it! God bless you all my beautiful OH family - sending positive vibes as we work our tools. We can do it - take it from me a compulsive overeater for 26 years. I had no portion control nor satiety. Never a sweet eater I ate food - large amounts of it - wrong amounts of it - like rice and peas with plantains and roasted pork (pernil) and refried the fat and ate that with cheese in a dish we call "chicharones" or my favorite Arroz con Habichuelas (Rice with pink kidney beans) prepared with coconot milk and pork with steak and onions with fried plantains and going back to two and three helpings. Today that all belongs to my past thanks to my tool and behavior modification. I am closer than ever to my original weight when I first came to America at age 24. I had WLS on 2/5/07 - on my surgery date I wore a tight 28 top and 30 bottom - today I wear a size 0 and XS at 11 months out - I am in partnership with my tool and committed to my plan. Here is to better living for all of us and we ALL can make it - no matter how long it takes or what the choice is - we are brothers and sisters on the same journey!!!! If an old stubborn mule spirited person of the past like me could do it - so can you. My daughter did it non surgically and we help each other along the way. My words of encouragement for 2008: Pursue! Press on! Persevere! Pray and Praise - it all works for our good - it is not always easy but it is well worth it - don't settle to survive - push to overcome! embrace your choice and work it! for YOU! for LIFE!
LONG HAIR - SHORT HAIR TOTALLY UNDECIDED on January 13, 2008 7:11 am
OKAY - first it was long with added extensions - then it was cut short and no extensions added - so while my ears and neck froze I started missing the long hair - did not want to put the extensions back in did not want to add an ounce to the scale - but now I am in the 120's so the scale is not bothering me - of course I can't wait for it to grow back and Martita and her friend Maggie have a hair braiding/weaving salon so when it is slow they play with their hair (lol) that is me and my best friend. So last night I clipped some extensions back in all over - I know, I know I am having a middle age or old age crisis whichever I agree however I acted too old for too long and even look the part - so now I am keeping my old wisdom while I look young (lol). Please tell me what do you think - can I swing it long for a few until I get sick of it again? (lol) - Short of long please vote again - your opinion my dear OH friend is very important to me!!!! I have to run out but I will check later what my beautiful OH friends have to say...and I have these extremely high heeled half boots on I hope I don't fall on my face (lol) love my heels (lol) 
I always had a hair thing going (lol) I remember braiding must be hundreds of microbraids in my hair - where did I get the time to eat? don't ask me but I ate and a whole lot!!!
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It is not about sizes! We encourage others by our... on January 12, 2008 1:58 pm
I posted before and am about to run out to get me a crockpot after reading a previous post. But I just had to share that I got a fantastic e-mail from a former classmate of mine who is in Florida who told me that my pictures and my story and my posts were an inspiration to him and that he had been following my journey from the time I told my classmates (we have a cybergroup and I share all my pics with them too) I was researching WLS. Well my friend is now post op - had surgery on December 6 - is back to work and doing great and I am soooooooooooo happy - I never once thought he had been following my journey nor that I in any way could have encouraged him without any words directly to him - he is already down 50 lbs and started out at over 400 - that made me sooooooooooo happy. It is not about sizes and it is not about being boastful - I look at myself after living in such a large body for 26 out of my 50 years and I am just soooooooooooooooo grateful. I even had to take a pic of the tag inside my jacket for my own eyes and I share with you - from a size 28-30 to an XSmall in 11 months and there is a close-up of my tags to prove it. I am encouraging someone - not by stepping into their business - but with the words of my own testimony - I thank you soooooooooooo much all of you my dear OH family - check this fat girl out and even check out the tag (lol) - I do it all in the outmost love and respect to all of you!!! I remember the days when my knees could not even fit an XL or 2X or 3x and I remember telling my daughter that the 4X were not running true to size because they were too tight - 11 months post RNY WLS I am wearing a XS and feeling good about it!!!!
Got into a tiny JLo dress (lol) on January 5, 2008 12:27 pm
Was not even shopping - just went to my favorite little boutique to look around and here it catches my eyes this small Jlo dress that looks entirely on the too small side for me - so I try it on - did not even take off my jeans and YAY it fit - so I got it and the other one just like it in a different color - have no idea where I am going to wear them to but I sure modeled them at home and got my pics taken in them - okay here is me in the little JLo dress - so there JLO phat girls can fit your dresses (lol) - I don't even really like the style that much - it is now a challenge to go to the small stuff that looks so small and see if I can fit in it - maybe I am in denial and want to get smaller yet - maybe when I get rid of my jelly belly mojo I will really feel that I am slim because I am not feeling it right now (lol)....
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Another's garbage/Someones treasure - Afflicted but... on January 4, 2008 5:55 am
In the past I was thrown out like garbage - cast to the curb my kids and I ... too fat to love, too loving to abuse - I was once afflicted but today I am free. Yesterday's garbage can be today's treasure ... MY CHILDREN AND I FOR THE WORLD TO SEE.... WE ONCE WERE CAST AWAY LIKE GARBAGE ON THE CURB BUT CHECK US OUT TODAY - ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD! JUST SHARING WITH YOU PART OF MY TESTIMONY.... I THANK GOD FOR BLESSING ME!
We deserve good things - all things work together for... on January 2, 2008 2:38 pm
Our bodies and our decisions are our own to own up to and to live by. A procedure such as ours (Weight Loss Surgery) requires an informed consent to be signed and prior to signing that informed consent we have done our research, we have asked all the questions and we have accumulated a wealth of information and weighed all the pros and the cons. After the risks, the benefits and the alternatives to the procedure have been explained in great detail, we then agree to proceed. Based on this - we made our best choice based on our decision, our condition, our circumstances or whatever the moving force behind it is. We are all here fighting a very fierce battle - the
Battle of the Bulge and our common enemy, our Giant is called OBESITY. As in any warfare there is victory in diversity- some are generals, some are sargents and some are grunts on the frontline - each one bearing a different weapon to fight the same common enemy and I do not know where I am going with this so bear with me. So here I am thinking Everything Works Together for the Greater Good. So when I see Jane Doe trying to bring down that Giant "Goliath AKA Obesity" with a high powered machine gun in full gear that she calls her DS, and I see Hawk I. Pierce is coming after the same Giant "Goliath AKA Obesity" with his OOZI that he calls his band I am rooting to the top of my voice - GO JANE GO!!! GO HAWK GO!!! Then her go I - Martita, all the way from the tropics and the rain forests of Panama dodging the supersized mosquitos and feet long grasshoppers and iguanas and snakes, coming up the rough side of the mountain like David with a slingshot and a stone that I call my Pouch and when I see the same giant "Goliath AKA Obesity" lurking over me trying to overpower me and destroy me I remember the times I was called a "fat bit#ch", I remember being told that I would make a wet dream go bad, I remember being kicked in my lower abdomen so hard that it messed up my female anatomy and being sterilized surgically afterwards, I remember my broken jaw and losing my teeth, I remember my broken nose when the one who professed to love me tried to wipe my fat face off the map, I remember sleeping with a CPAP machine, I remember not being able to run up the stairs to assist my sick daughter in need, I remember Glucovance, and Toprol XL, and Nexium and Lipitor and Zetia and Advair and Flomax and Ventolin and Arthotec, I remember acid reflux and GI bleed, I remember coughing and peeing on myself or seeping in my pants because of my body habitus and here comes this big Giant called Obesity that disgraced my life for the past 24 years looming over me, trying to take me out and kill me with these conditions called co-morbidities - I look at that joker and I am mad, and I decide he has no control over me, and I am going to take my tool my slingshot and my stone that I call my pouch and I am going to swing my arm back and fling that stone in my slingshot so hard and hit that joker right in the bullseye and I am going to bring that giant down! So who cares what the tool is when we are all walking the same journey and fighting the same battle! Some may get there sooner, some may get there later but what matters is that we ARRIVE; that the Giant "Goliath AKA OBESITY" stays down and under our feet - kill him and keep him down and don't let your guard down because he may get right back up and rise up in us again fiercer than before. Yes I do believe there is Victory in Diversity. And I love, encourage, appreciate and rejoice with all my brothers and sisters on this journey no matter what stage of the walk they are in and no matter what the approach they take - I rejoice with your successes, I cry, I uplift and I encourage and offer myself as a friend to lean on in times of trouble and to rejoice with in time of joy and I learn and glean from each and every experience positive or negative. Be accountable, be resourceful, take ownership of your decision and work your tool! if you go it conservatively work that diet! - it all works together for our good. God bless you all reading my humble position on the topic. I could only say it Martita's way which may not make much sense anyway (lol). We all deserve good things. This has been my year of first things and I took pictures of it all. After spending 25 years in flowing tents and supersized venezia jeans and stiching up busted pants and making myself plus sized outfits just not to fit in with the norm (an mind you I am not critical of these things, I wore them in style and pride at my biggest and I thank God for their availability) but today just a few days short of my 11 month survigersary I work my first pair of LEVIS Jeans ever and my very first pair of RALPH LAUREN jeans ever - the things I used to look at others wear and salivate thinking how back I would like to rock a pair of these, well it is my turn now and I got my old 50 year old butt in those tiny jeans that slipped right on me and I had nowhere to go so I modelled them for my sick husband and he snapped pictures of me. My life is not a bed of roses but it is the life I have and I chose to live happy, with and in love with my fellowmen and in peace. I surround myself with the beauty of creation and I make myself happy. So in my year of first time evers I wore a catsuit that my daughter said I had no business wearing and I just got my pics in my little Levis and Ralph Lauren and I will bid you all a very good night and the best and most prosperous year. I am rooting for all of you and I draw on all your strengths - thanks soooooooo much for being here for me to support and encourage me....
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