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To be a healthy/ happy role model for my kids, to see them grow up

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buy sexy lingerie at Victoria's Secret.

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Go to DisneyWorld and fit on all the rides with my children!

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wear blue jeans again

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Renew my wedding vows wearing the wedding dress my Mom made for me!

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Don't pray for an easier life; pray to be a stronger person.  Author Unknown
mintonbug's Blog



Excited!
on September 6, 2007 2:03 pm

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and stop waiting as if I didn't have any control.  I called the surgeon's office and confirmed everything I thought should be in my chart.  They have the results from my ABG, chest X-ray, EKG and Labs I did on 8/16/07.  They also have my 5 year weight history and my 5 year diet history.
I called the Nutritionist and made myself an appointment for 9/17/07 at 3:00 pm.
Then I called the Psychologist and made an appointment for 10/11/07 at 2:30 pm.  Both appointments were the earliest available.  
On 9/24/07 at 8:30 am  I have my Upper GI series and Ultrasound followed by my Pulmonary Evaluation at 12:45 pm.  
I have to wait for the results of my Pulmonary Evaluation before I can schedule my Anesthesia Consult.  
But once I have these out of the way, I have my decision visit with my surgeon.  It really looks like I may be able to have my surgery before Christmas.  
That is so exciting for me.  I just wrote one of my friends and explained to her that I may actually be able to keep my New Year Resolutions this year.  

Let me explain, I have almost stopped making New Year Resolutions because I always make the same 2 Resolutions and I fail miserably every year at my resolutions.  Here are my Resolutions:
1: To lose all my weight
2: To give up Mountain Dew
OKay, now most of you probably can sympathize with the first Resolution and failure.  But I bet most of you are laughing about me failing at the second Resolution.  I am here to tell you, only a true Mountain Dew addict understands this.  First of all, Mountain Dew is extremely high in caffeine ( actually use to be the highest in caffeine on the market until all the new High Energy drinks came out)  So it is very addictive.  Secondly, I don't drink or smoke, I drink Mountain Dew to calm my nerves.  It is my evil vice.  So giving up Mountain Dew for me is truely like giving up Smoking or an Alcoholic giving up Alcohol.  I can give it up, but I have to totally give up Mountain Dew, I can't have 1 a day, or a Diet Mountain Dew, or even 1 a week.  It is a true addiction for me. 
I have already given up Mountain Dew completely. I am so serious about this surgery, I have given up Mountain Dew and I don't miss it!  And if I have my surgery by December, then I can actually make my New Year's Resolution to lose all my unhealthy weight come true.  So my first real Wow momemt may be realizing that I can actually keep my New Year's Resolution's!  That would be so Awesome!  After all the years and years I have made these Resolutions and have never been able to keep them.  
I know this has been a long post and I rambled. Thank you for sharing in my excitement today!
 

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What Now?
on September 4, 2007 6:51 am
I really don't know what to do at this point.  I called the doctor's office last week because I haven't recieved my schedule of appointments and I was told that " My chart is on the appointment secretary's desk and she will get to it when she can."  I talked to the nursing supervisor and told him how I felt like I was just a number and not really a person, and the nursing supervisor stated that he would check into my situation and personally handle things.  Well, I recieved my letter of appointments Saturday.      I don't know if I should laugh or cry.  My real name is Barbara and the letter was addressed to Brenda They have me scheduled to have lab work on Sept 24th that I had done on Aug. 16.  There is a statement that says I will be scheduled for the Anesthesia Consult after they recieve the results of my EKG and chest X-Ray which I had on Aug. 16 and I think they should already have the results.  They also ask me to Fax them a 5 year diet history which is required by my insurance and I handed that to them on my appointment on Aug. 16. 
I'm getting ready to call the surgeon's office and see if I can straighten any of this out.  Needless to say, this doesn't increase my confidence in my surgeon and his office at all. 
Thank you for letting me vent.  
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Mixed Feelings
on August 17, 2007 12:28 pm
Well, my big day finally came.  I was so nervous yesterday morning, I could barely get ready for work.  I was shaking while I was putting in my contacts and putting on my MK makeup.  I went in to work for just a few hours to try to settle my nerves and I guess it helped a little.  I decided not to eat anything even though my appointment wasn't until 1:00 pm and I had awakened at 5:00am, just in case I needed any test done that required fasting.   Yeah, that was a real bright idea!   Well, needless to say, I actually didn't get to be seen in the doctor's office until around 1:30 pm by a nurse, even though I had arrived early as instructed.  But the biggest surprise was that my surgeon was not there.  Wait a minute.........  I waited from June 27th to Aug. 16 to see my surgeon and I am casually told that " DR.   is not here today, but you will be seeing one of the fellows.  You will see Dr. when you come back for your decision visit. Well, at first I was like  then I was like  then I wanted to bust out.  All these emotions in a matter of seconds.  My husband was with me but he didn't seem to understand.  I asked him, " If you were going to have open heart surgery, wouldn't you want to meet the surgeon that was going to operate on you?"  I was just so disappointed.  Then the  in me took over and I got  and starting thinking, " What if I schedule surgery and Dr.decides not to show up on the day of my surgery?"  
Now there may have been a good reason for the Surgeon to have not been there yesterday.   But no one offered an explaination.  I think if he was called away on an emergency, the staff would have been free to say that.  I feel that maybe he scheduled a day off and I was not notified and given a chance to reschedule my appointment.  Which makes me a little .  The Surgeon's office is so clear about telling you to call and cancel your appointments if you can not make them, that I feel I should have the same respect and be notified if the surgeon can not make my appointment ( unless it is an emergency situation.)  Well, enough of me venting on that subject.  
I was sent to have my ABG( arterial blood gas), Chest Xray, and EKG done at the hospital.  All that was not completed until 6:00 pm and I was starving by then.  Which I guess only served to make me even more .  
I think maybe the real problem is that I expected much more information from the visit than what I recieved.  I was told that it would be another 2 weeks before I recieved a letter that would tell me what my next appointments would be.  So it was like going from 160 to 0 in 2 secs, another hurry up and wait type of situation.  
So as I crawled into bed last night, I tried to remember the Serenity Prayer.  If anyone has a copy of it, please send it my way.  I sure need it right now in my life.  Not just with being patient with the WLS process but with some other things in my life at this time too.  In the meantime,  I going to try to find the  side of my personality before I wind up  forgiveness from everyone I know. 
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2 Days
on August 14, 2007 7:25 am
Just 2 days Left!  It has seemed like forever but now my appointment with my surgeon is only 2 days away.  I can't tell you how excited I am.  I can barely sit here and type.  Please keep me in your prayers.  I really want to be able to have gastric bypass surgery so that I can be more active in my life.  I don't want my weight to be the reason that I don't participate in activities I want to do anymore.  I want to feel good about myself.  And I want to be healthy for me and my family! 
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1 month Left
on July 15, 2007 7:02 pm
07/15/07
I have 1 month left until I see Dr. Chapman for my first appointment.  It seems like it will never get here.  

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My Story

I am usually not at a loss for words, but it has been very difficult for me to decide what to write here under my story.  My story reads alot like many other people here at OH, I grew up as a "fat" child, enduring ridicule from my classmates and feeling a little inferior to others.  Until my middle school years where I went from almost 200lbs down to 145lbs to enter high school.  In my own mind, I was still fat.  I was popular but some people still made comments about my weight.  I was on the homecoming court and always had lots of dates and was really successful in school and college.  But I always thought of myself as "Fat".  Now I look back at the pictures of me in high school and college and see how "skinny" I was.  I realize that I have always had a problem with my body image and my eating habits.  I have dieted all my life and as many of you have done,  packed on pound after pound after every diet that produced only a minimal weight loss.  I traveled this journey kicking and screaming the entire way.  Seeing physician after physician to have my thyroid tested, being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, anorexia( yes, after one dieting experience, I was actually diagnosed as anorexic and still weighed 270 lbs.) I have been successful in my life but feel like I have failed at one thing, WEIGHT LOSS.  My first husband left me after 16 1/2 years because of my struggle with my weight.  I am now married to a wonderful man and have 3 beautiful children.  Now I feel like it's the perfect time in my life to focus on me, my health and my self esteem.  I hope this surgery will give me my life back and enable me to participate in my childrens' lives in ways I haven't been able to before.  I want to take them to Disney World and actually ride the rides with them. I have always tried to teach my children through example and I want to be a good healthy role model for my children.  And I want to see them get married and have children of their own. 

 


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